Levi-April Whalley and Sophie Bannister were among 134 suspects arrested for smuggling a total of 5,609kg of cannabis into UK airports in 2023.
Although they were spared jail, law enforcement chiefs have warned travellers tempted to bring the drug into this country that they are likely to be imprisoned if caught.
Yet despite the risk of losing their freedom, the amount being brought into the country by drugs mules has increased ‘exponentially’, according to the National Crime Agency, dubbed Britain’s FBI.
Last year a staggering 26,924kg of cannabis was seized from around 750 smugglers flying into UK airports – a five-fold increase on the year before.
By comparison, as recently as 2022, the total seized was just 2kg.
In 2024, 430 suspects were arrested at Heathrow Airport where 14,617kg of cannabis was seized.
The next worst affected airports were Manchester, where around 135 arrests were made and 4,815kg of cannabis seized, and…
