The hidden, grim reality of British drug mules is exposed as the Thai cannabis boom surges.

Thailand’s “wild weed waste” has added fuel to the fire today as a Mirror investigation reveals a boom in Thai cannabis farms has led to a large number of drug mules being snared by UK authorities.

Today, one of Britain’s most senior officials urged Britons seeking free holidays not to resort to drug trafficking to finance their trips.

The Mirror can today reveal that hundreds of smugglers coming to the UK this year alone have been busted – with Thailand’s “wild weed waste” fuelling the problem. Clear data shows that at least 800 smugglers were caught at airports until mid-November this year – that means police caught two mules every day.

This total is much more than the whole of 2024, when 750 smugglers were caught. About 640 of those arrested were travelling from Thailand.

where relaxed drug laws have led to a boom in cannabis production. Last year only 460 were arrested after arriving from Thailand.

Large quantities of drugs have been seized at UK airports in the past year, partly due to a boom in cannabis production in Thailand. (Image: NCA)

Criminal gangs lured gullible Britons with the promise of luxury holidays in exchange for the transportation of “packages”.

Several drug gangs have been caught around the world, including pregnant 19-year-old Bella Mae Cooley, 24-year-old young mother Cameron Bradford and 21-year-old former air hostess Charlotte Mae Lee.

But today Becky Wright, head of the NCA’s Borders Threat Team, warned, “Don’t risk your life for a free holiday.”

She told the Mirror: “Couriers are risking potentially life-changing penalties and prison sentences and we continue to target them as part of our ongoing efforts to break the supply chain.

“We continue to warn anyone who is tempted by a quick payday or free holiday in exchange for smuggling drugs such as cannabis:

The risks are too great and the chances of getting caught are too high. It is not worth it. The NCA works with law enforcement partners, such as border forces at home and those abroad,

to attack high-risk routes, seize drug shipments and disrupt the organised crime groups involved, impacting their profits. Works together.”

Bella May Cooley, 18, said she was tricked into carrying drugs from Thailand to Georgia but eventually made a deal to return to the UK. (Image: Facebook)

Official data obtained by this paper shows that at least 23 tonnes of cannabis were seized at UK airports between January and November in 2025. The authorities seized approximately 17 tonnes of cannabis at Heathrow and at least 3.8 tonnes at Manchester airports.

The National Crime Agency said at least 800 couriers have been arrested at UK airports so far in 2025, with around 530 at Heathrow, 120 at Manchester Airport and around 30 at Gatwick, and smaller numbers elsewhere.

About 80% of those arrested travelled from Thailand, with notable ones coming from the US, Canada and South Africa. And about two-thirds of those arrested were British, with notable numbers from the US, Malaysia and Canada.

Cameron Bradford, 21, of Knebworth, Herts, was detained at Munich Airport on April 21 as she tried to collect her luggage.

Earlier this year Thai authorities said British influencers and backpackers were being lured by a ruthless drug mule gang using the Telegram messaging app.

Police Lieutenant General Phanurat Lukboon, secretary general of Thailand’s Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) office, said young travellers were being offered a free trip to Thailand, alcohol and up to £2,000 in spending money.

They agreed to smuggle the cannabis into the United Kingdom in return. Lieutenant Lukboon said, “These people recruited to the UK are not deceived.”

They are lured with free tours, accommodation, and food in Thailand, as well as pocket money in exchange for an agreement to bring cannabis back to the UK.”

Charlotte May Lee, 21, was jailed in a terrifying Sri Lankan prison after allegedly trying to smuggle drugs worth £1.2 million from Thailand to Sri Lanka. (Image: instagram.com/charlottemaylee)

Today Chris Hobbs, a former Special Branch officer for border control, said he was “shocked” by the scale of cannabis smuggling into Britain, where it remains a Class B drug.

In 2002 he led Operation Airbridge, which deployed UK police and customs agents to Jamaican airports to stop smugglers from ingesting cocaine and supplying the drug to Britain.

Mr. Hobbs said, “It is interesting to find out whether these young travellers are being recruited in the UK or overseas.”

They will probably have to hand over their drugs to a named contact or someone who recruited them in the first place in order to get some items back.

They may have been recruited abroad, with gangs seeking naive Britons who they thought could pass through Heathrow or Gatwick.

Often mules will be told that customs in the UK are not really interested in cannabis coming through, which, quite honestly, was true until a few years ago.

In 2022 glamorous pals Sophie Bannister and Levi-April Whalley, both from Blackburn, were found with cannabis in bags (Image: male)

They falsely claim that if you get caught, nothing serious will happen and you won’t go to jail because the prisons are full. So if you get caught, it’s no big deal. And if you don’t get caught, you’ve got away, and you’ll make a lot of money from it.”

This summer there has been a spate of cases in Britain, such as that of 18-year-old Bella Cooley, who was tricked into carrying drugs from Thailand to Georgia.

She claimed her luggage containing 31 pounds of cannabis was taken to the airport and placed in the hold of the plane when she was flying from Bangkok in May.

Gangs tortured Bella, from County Durham, into smuggling £200,000 worth of cannabis, a court heard.

Earlier this year Mirror reporter Dan Warburton gained access to one of the dozens of cannabis farms growing on Koh Samui. (Image: Phil Harris)

Elsewhere, a British couple claiming to be tourists from Thailand were caught at an airport in Spain with more than 33 kilograms of cannabis in their suitcase.

The pair were caught by suspicious policemen at Valencia airport after showing a “nervous and evasive attitude” and are now behind bars on drug trafficking charges.

Meanwhile, young mother Cameron Bradford, 21, from Knebworth, was detained at Munich Airport in Germany for smuggling cannabis in her bag while flying from Thailand.

And 21-year-old rising travel influencer Charlotte May Lee was caught carrying £1.2 million of drugs from Thailand to Sri Lanka.

The former air hostess’s suitcase was said to be filled with 46 kilograms of a synthetic cannabis strain known as Kush.

Previously glamorous friends Sophie Bannister and Levi-April Whalley, both from Blackburn, were found with cannabis in their bags when they were flying back to the UK from New York in 2022.

Sophie and Levi claim that a girl in Marseille reached out to them online, offering them an all-expenses-paid trip in exchange for returning with two suitcases.

Earlier this year the Mirror travelled to the luxury island of Koh Samui, Thailand, to expose how drug-trafficking Britons were being raked in by cannabis worth millions after drug laws were relaxed.

The lucrative smuggling network is so vast that National Crime Agency detectives and Home Office officers were deployed to Thailand for weeks to tackle the problem.

And a group of Britons were stuck with heavy luggage in their luggage while leaving the popular tourist destination of Koh Samui, where the latest Emmy Award-winning HBO show White Lotus was filmed.

The Mirror visited a farm just minutes from the luxurious Four Seasons resort where Patrick Schwarzenegger, 31, and Charlotte Le Bon, 38, filmed the hit drama.

There we found a hemp farm, made up of hundreds of plants growing row after row just metres away from a busy road.

Cared for by hand by an elderly shop employee, the flower buds had to be cut and dried before being sold to British tourists and backpackers. Inside the store, jars of products including Lemon Haze, Purple Oreo, and Blackberry were available.

Meanwhile, an industrial-sized cannabis factory next to a military post has highlighted the dangers of cannabis cultivation in Koh Samui.

On the fence, beneath the razor wire, were signs warning that the owners would use firearms on trespassers before alerting the police.

Sensible “laboratories” even offer tours of their products to curious Britons as they produce high-grade cannabis in giant quantities.

A farmer told us, “This is big business. The demand is high; we have no problem selling the product.”

In 2022, Thailand became the first country in Asia to decriminalise cannabis for medical purposes, but in practice, the market is virtually unregulated.

Neon weed signs have become ubiquitous in the busy tourist areas of Bangkok and Koh Samui, with dispensaries popping up on every corner.

Hundreds of food and beverage vendors advertise cannabis-infused menus. Private recreational use of cannabis is legal if the THC content is less than 0.2% by weight, but use of cannabis in public places is illegal.

However, regulations already exist to restrict the use of cannabis. Smoking or vaping is not allowed in public places. Causing a “public nuisance” – which includes the smell of weed – can result in a fine of 25,000 baht (£560).

Since cannabis was legalised, more than 1.1 million Thais have registered for licences to grow it, and more than 6,000 weed dispensaries have opened across the country.

The Health Ministry has reported an increase in the number of people seeking treatment for cannabis-related psychological problems.

This increases from more than 37,000 patients in 2022 to more than 63,000 in 2023. Other studies have shown that more young people are using the drug.