Cannabis seizures at UK airports have more than quadrupled in a year, with Birmingham Airport among the sites with highest detections

Nearly one-and-a-half tonnes of cannabis was seized at Birmingham Airport last year as global smugglers targeted the Midland flight hub.

Only Heathrow and Manchester impounded more of the drug as almost 27 tonnes was uncovered at UK airports in 2024 – nearly five times higher than the previous year. And it was a huge 13-fold increase from the two tonnes seized in 2022.

The increase came despite the National Crime Agency issuing a warning to travellers arriving into the UK from Thailand, Canada and the United States that they faced jail sentences if caught attempting to bring cannabis into the country.

READ MORE: Five arrested after half a tonne of cannabis seized at Birmingham Airport

Forty arrests were made in connection with cannabis smuggling at Birmingham. Eleven suspects were held on the same day, August 9, after a total of 510 kilos of cannabis was found inside 28 suitcases.

All the passengers had travelled from Thailand, transiting via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. Their cases were believed to be linked.

Of the 750 smuggling suspects held across the UK, 460 arrived from Thailand; 108 from Canada and 63 from the USA. The rest had flown in from a variety of other countries.

Around 290 UK citizens, 162 Malaysians, 86 Canadians and 52 Americans were arrested on suspicion of smuggling cannabis into the UK on commercial flights.

The major increase in cannabis smuggled was believed to be fuelled by organised crime groups gaining access to cannabis legally grown overseas.

The gangs recruit couriers to transport it to the UK where it can generate greater profit, the NCA said.

READ MORE: BHX £5m cannabis bust as passengers arriving from three locations handed warning

Alex Murray, NCA director of threat leadership, said: “Border Force have been excellent in detecting these couriers at the border, after which the NCA takes on the investigation.

“The NCA continues to work with law enforcement partners in both the UK, and overseas to target high-risk routes, seize shipments of drugs and disrupt the criminal gangs involved, denying them profits.

“We have been working well with the Thai authorities who are also keen to intervene.

“Organised crime groups make significant profits by trafficking and selling perceived high-quality cannabis legally grown in the USA, Canada and Thailand illegally in the UK.

“Couriers run the risk of a potentially life-changing prison sentence.

“Our targeting of them is crucial to breaking the supply chain.

“We reissue our appeal to anyone who is asked to smuggle cannabis to think very carefully about the potential consequences of their actions, and the risks they run.

“Organised criminals can be persuasive and offer to pay smugglers.

“But as the numbers show, the risk of getting caught is very high, and simply isn’t worth it.”

The sentence for cannabis importation in the UK is up to 14 years in prison. In 2024, at least 414 people were convicted of smuggling cannabis via UK airports.

Passengers were most often found to be carrying between 15 and 40 kilos of cannabis inside their checked-in luggage.

In one case last year Spanish national Fernando Mayans Fuster, 51, was caught at Manchester Airport with eight suitcases containing 158 kilos of the drug, after arriving on a flight from Los Angeles.

It was believed to be one of the largest passenger seizures of its kind at Manchester. He was jailed for three years and four months.

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In some instances, officers have recovered electronic trackers with the drugs, believed to have been placed by organised criminals at source so they could follow the illicit loads.

Danny Hewitt, director of National Operational Headquarters for Border Force, said: “Drugs have devastating impacts and ruin lives, which is why we are working tirelessly to prevent criminals from smuggling drugs across the border and ensure they face the full force of the law.

“We continue to work closely with the NCA to break drug supply chains and keep our streets safe from harmful substances.”

Anyone with information on the smuggling of drugs through UK ports is urged to report it, anonymously if they prefer, by calling Border Force’s Customs Hotline on 0800 595 000.