11 suspected drug dealers snared at Birmingham Airport with £5m cannabis during summer holiday season
Eleven suspected drug dealers have been arrested at Birmingham Airport after £5 million cannabis was discovered in 28 suitcases.
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A £5 million pound haul of cannabis was found spread across 28 suitcases in just one day at the height of the summer travel season at Birmingham Airport.
The mammoth-sized 510-kilo stash was discovered on August 9, leading to the arrest of 11 British passengers, all of whom were travelling in from Thailand via Paris Charles de Gaulle.
All arrested passengers were later bailed until November 9.
The discovery has since prompted the National Crime Agency to release a warning surrounding drug smuggling, saying that the crime carries hefty sentences if criminals are caught.
So far 378 people have been arrested in connection with cannabis smuggling by air passengers this year, with an estimated 15 tonnes of cannabis being detected and seized at UK airports in the same period – three times more than in the whole of 2023. When approximately five tonnes of cannabis was seized 136 people were arrested.
More than half of those who were arrested in 2023 (71 people) had flown in from US airports, 24 from Thailand and 24 from Canada.
In one significant case, 51-year-old Spanish national, Fernando Mayans Fuster, was caught at Manchester Airport with eight suitcases containing 158 kilos of the drug, after arriving from Los Angeles in May this year.
The arrest is believed to be one of the largest passenger seizures of its king at Manchester Airport.
Fuster was jailed for three years and four months at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on July 19.
NCA Director General of Threats, James Babbage, said: "In some cases, it is unclear whether the mules knew what the potential penalties are but in most cases, they were operating on behalf of organised criminal gangs.
"And it is those couriers who are running the risk of a potentially life-changing prison sentence.
"Gangs can make significant profits by selling and smuggling perceived high-quality cannabis legally grown in the USA, Canada and Thailand illegally in the UK.
"The NCA is actively working with partners like Border Force here in the UK, and law enforcement internationally to target those involved in drug supply, including the networks behind it. Targeting those smugglers who play a crucial role in the supply chain is one way we can do that.
"We would appeal to anyone who is approached to engage in smuggling to think very carefully about the potential consequences of their actions, and the risks they will run.
"We know organised criminals can be persuasive, and offer to pay couriers. But the risks of getting caught are high, and it just isn’t worth that risk."
