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More than 200 Brits are currently detained overseas in cannabis smuggling cases linked to Thailand alone, new data has revealed.
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data → see → Thailand
The Brits were recruited with promises of free holidays, easy money and ‘low risk’ opportunities.
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Brits → recruit → holidays
Recruits are often told luggage destined for the UK contains clothes, gold or cash – when actually suitcases can contain up to 71kg of cannabis.
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suitcases → tell → cannabis
Penalties abroad can include decades in prison, life sentences, whipping, and, in some countries, the death penalty.
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Penalties → include → countries
Consular cases involving British nationals arrested abroad for drug smuggling offences more than quadrupled between 2023 and 2025, according to Foreign Office figures.
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cases → involve → figures
New cases rose from just over 80 in 2023 to more than 340 in 2025, with more than 160 cases so far in 2026.
Bella Culley, a 19-year-old suspected drugs mule from Billingham, spent five months in a jail in Tbilisi, Georgia, following her arrest for smuggling £200,000 of marijuana and hashish from Thailand to the ex-Soviet state in May last year.
Meanwhile, Taylor Johnson, 20, was in July sentenced to nearly ten years in Turkish prison after being accused of smuggling two suitcases packed with cannabis to the UK.
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Johnson → rise → UK
He was arrested minutes after landing in Istanbul on a flight from Thailand.
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He → arrest → Thailand
Bella Culley, who has now returned to the UK, claimed she flew to Tbilisi not knowing she had 14kg of illegal cargo hidden in her bags
Taylor Johnson, 20, was arrested alongside his girlfriend Holly Cooper who was acquitted and allowed to return to the UK after no drugs were found in her bag
Suspected drugs mule Bella Culley arrived back in the UK at Luton airport last November after her release from Georgian prison
The rise in cases is driven by cannabis-related arrests, with the majority occurring in Southeast Asia including Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and Laos.
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majority → return → Thailand
More than 200 British nationals currently detained abroad on smuggling offences are held in connection to cannabis originating from Thailand.
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nationals → detain → Thailand
Around 60 per cent of those affected since 2024 are aged between 16 and 30.
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cent → affect → 16
Young people are often the main targets and are recruited via social media.
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people → recruit → media
While criminal gangs profit, those recruited face the consequences.
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those → profit → consequences
Minister for Consular and Crisis, Stephen Doughty MP, said: 'Far too many British nationals are being lured into drug smuggling schemes by criminal gangs that promise free travel or a quick way to make cash.
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that → say → cash
The reality is very different, and detainees are warning about the dire living conditions they now face decades of in prison or, in some countries, the possibility of the death penalty.
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they → warn → penalty
'Organised criminals are only interested in their own profit and do not care about the devastating consequences for the people they recruit.
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they → care → people
Our advice is clear: never carry drugs or items for others.
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advice → carry → others
Remember no holiday, payment or opportunity is worth risking your freedom, your future or your life.'
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holiday → remember → freedom
As part of this year’s Travel Aware campaign, the UK government is warning travellers to think twice before carrying luggage, packages or goods on behalf of others.
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government → warn → others
It comes as research commissioned by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office suggested some young travellers may underestimate the risks.
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travellers → come → risks
A third of those surveyed did not recognise travelling with luggage packed by someone else as risky, while 30 per cent said they would consider travelling abroad with an item they were unsure was permitted.
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they → survey → item
This warning has been echoed by British nationals currently detained abroad.
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warning → echo → nationals
One British national, currently detained on cannabis offences, said: 'At the end of the day, it's your freedom you're risking, and once it's gone, it's not easy to get back.'
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it → detain → day
Another said: 'When I was told about the job, it made it seem [like] everything will be ok and nothing illegal will happen, and [I would get] to enjoy a free holiday.
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I → say → holiday
[...] You start to think about many things and moments you will miss out on.
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you → start → things
'My heart hurts.'
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heart → hurt → ?
One British national detained abroad described feeling 'a sense of mourning for the life I had'.
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I → detain → life
In Malaysia, trafficking offences can result in life imprisonment and a minimum of 15 strokes of whipping, while sentences in Cambodia can be up to 30 years.
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sentences → result → Cambodia
Bags are often re-checked during transit through third countries.
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Bags → re → countries
Meanwhile, legal proceedings can be lengthy and costly, with suspects spending months in detention before their cases reach court.
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cases → spend → court
Prison conditions can be harsh, access to healthcare limited and British nationals have previously died while in custody in Southeast Asia.
Bella Culley told a court that she had been forced to traffic the stash from Thailand by a gang who branded her with an iron and forced her to watch execution videos
Culley arrived back in the UK with her mother after being freed from a Georgian prison in November last year.
She was arrested six months before at Tbilisi airport after being accused of attempting to smuggle 12kg of marijuana and 2kg of hashish into the country.
She was found guilty by a Georgian court and sentenced to five months and 25 days in prison – the total time she had already spent in custody.
Culley initially faced a maximum penalty of up to 15 years or life in prison.
Her family paid a £137,000 fine as part of a plea deal to see her release.
Georgian prosecutors were considering a two-year sentence but 'decided to consider the time she has already served', case prosecutor Vakhtang Tsalughelashvili said, and asked for her release.
Her mother, Lyanne Kennedy, said she had believed that she would only see her daughter in person again when her grandchild was born.
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grandchild → die → person
'It was totally unexpected,' she said.
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she → say → ?
While the judge agreed to release her, he cautioned that there would be no mitigating circumstance if she repeats the offence.
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she → agree → offence
Culley's conditions at the prison are said to have been grim – she reportedly was forced to boil pasta in a kettle and toast bread over a candle.
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she → say → candle
Her cell at No5 Women’s Penitentiary near Tbilisi, also had a hole in the ground, used as a toilet.
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cell → have → toilet
Culley previously told a court that she had been forced to traffic the stash from Thailand by a gang who branded her with an iron and forced her to watch execution videos.
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who → tell → videos
British 20-year-old Johnson will serve his sentence of nine years and two months in an overcrowded maximum security facility in Turkey.
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Johnson → serve → Turkey
He was jailed after a sniffer dog detected £300,000 of cannabis in his suitcase.
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dog → jail → suitcase
Johnson said he had agreed to bring the bag back for a man in the UK who had threatened him, and claimed he had no idea it contained drugs.
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it → say → drugs
He had gone on holiday to Thailand with girlfriend, Holly Cooper, 20, in April.
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He → go → April
He later admitted to police that a man in the UK threatened him and demanded money after they had been involved in a road accident.
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they → admit → accident
…and 19 more, not listed.
The Aporia
