Watch: Drug courier ‘duped’ into carrying two suitcases full of cannabis through Heathrow

The National Crime Agency (NCA) is warning travellers arriving into the UK from Thailand, Canada and the United States that they face jail sentences if caught attempting to bring cannabis into the country, after a huge increase in arrests.

So far this year, 378 people have been arrested in connection with investigations into cannabis smuggling by air passengers.

An estimated 15 tonnes of cannabis was detected and seized at UK airports in the same period – already around three times more than in the whole of 2023.

Footage shared by the NCA shows the moment a courier was arrested after carrying two suitcases of cannabis through Heathrow.

Hundreds of couriers are being duped by traffickers into thinking the UK authorities are soft on the drug and will let them off with a fine.