Record 1,000 drug mules arrested for smuggling cannabis into UK as police warn gangs on social media are luring young Britons with promise of influencer lifestyles

Published: 21:06, 8 August 2026 | Updated: 21:06, 8 August 2026 Almost 1,000 British drug mules were arrested at UK airports smuggling cannabis from abroad last year – seven times the amount two years earlier. The record number of arrests stood at 976 – up from 142 in 2023 – and in the six months to June this year the figure was already at 600, according to police figures. The vast majority of arrests involve those returning from Thailand. Detectives say many of those persuaded to smuggle are seduced on social media with the promise of a free holiday and then forced to bring back cannabis in their luggage. The average street value of drugs seized is £250,000. On Thursday Amy Durban, 45, from Cullompton, Devon, became the latest mule to plead guilty. She was caught at Heathrow with over £500,000 worth of cannabis from Thailand in her suitcase, and will be sentenced in October. Smugglers are also being stopped at transit airports in places such as Turkey, Georgia and Sri Lanka. The National Crime Agency (NCA) recently launched a campaign in Bangkok warning Brits of the dangers of being drug mules. It can land them 14 years in jail in the UK, and longer terms or even the death penalty in countries such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The spike in cannabis being smuggled from Thailand comes after it was decriminalised there in 2022. Farming it is now legal, driving prices down. But exporting it without clearance is illegal. Influencer Ellie Crampsie was jailed for 16 months after arriving in Edinburgh with £150,000 worth of cannabis Last year, 976 British drug mules were arrested at UK airports smuggling cannabis, a sevenfold increase from 2023 (142 arrests) One kilogram of cannabis smuggled from Thailand has an estimated street value of £10,000, and on average a drugs mule smuggles about 25kg (55lb) into the UK. The NCA said would-be drugs mules are being lured by gangs on social media sites such as Snapchat and TikTok. The gangs advertise free week-long holidays to Thailand where flights, hotels and spending money are provided in return for a small favour. But they are then forced under the threat of violence to carry drugs back and are offered up to £5,000 on their return to the UK. Paul Pantry, head of border vulnerabilities at the NCA, said: 'The couriers have no control over how they fly back. 'They are in the hands of these ruthless criminals who enforce everything with violence. Once they are in, there's no backing out. 'Organised crime groups will not care about couriers. They will leave them high and dry. They are entering a murky, violent world.' Mr Pantry said that while some people with criminal backgrounds become drug mules, there is a significant number who see themselves as 'influencer-types'. He said: 'There's an attraction in that glamorous lifestyle, that sort of social media story you might post about your time in a glamorous location. We are seeing that demographic in that type of crime.' Pregnant teenager Bella Culley, 19, from Billingham, Teesside, was caught with cannabis smuggled from Thailand at Tbilisi airport in Georgia last year. She faced 20 years in jail, but was freed after five months in a plea bargain. Influencer Ellie Crampsie, 23, from Glasgow, was arrested at Edinburgh airport last year when she landed from Thailand with 17kg of cannabis in her suitcase with a street value of £150,000. She was jailed in April for 16 months. And Charlotte Lee May, 21, from south London, was arrested in Sri Lanka in May last year with 46kg of cannabis from Thailand and is facing 20 years in jail.