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UNTOLD 2022 - Season 7 Episode 5 - Inside Thailand's British Drug Gangs
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00:00Oh, my God, this is a stoner's paradise.
00:05I'm journalist Tia Dondi.
00:08I've spent months investigating high-profile reports of British women
00:12arrested for smuggling millions of pounds worth of cannabis
00:15from Thailand to the UK.
00:17The 21-year-old could face a 25-year sentence.
00:20I've got never-before-seen access
00:22to the gangs recruiting young Brits to be drug mules.
00:26If you think you're backing out and out,
00:27I'm gonna fucking tell you here and fucking tell them.
00:29You're gonna go home with that suitcase.
00:31In this investigation, I'll be revealing why this is happening.
00:34The risk we're taking is the money if we lose it.
00:37The risks they're taking is their freedom.
00:39And meeting someone who's about to risk it all,
00:42bringing drugs back to the UK.
00:44You just see in her eyes, you can see by her mannerisms that she's scared.
00:50But will they make it back home without getting caught?
00:53Excuse me. Hello. Hello.
00:55Oh, wow.
00:58OK, let's see.
01:13In 2025, around 650 people were arrested at UK airports for smuggling cannabis from Thailand.
01:20In the same year, stats show women made up 62% of new drug-related cases,
01:26and those aged under 34 made up 65%.
01:30I want to know why this is happening and if I could meet a drug mule in person.
01:36After months of negotiation, I've tracked down someone
01:39at the centre of a drug smuggling gang.
01:42I've been put in touch with this woman who says that she runs an operation,
01:46flying flyers back and forth from Thailand with suitcases full of weed.
01:50She's agreed to speak to me if we protect her anonymity.
01:54She's based between the UK and Thailand.
01:59OK, I think she's here.
02:04Hi. Hi, are you OK?
02:09I'm Tyr. Nice to meet you. What shall I call you?
02:13Zee. Zee? Yeah.
02:14Thanks for chatting to me today. You too.
02:17Can you tell me what it is that you do?
02:19I've been involved with drugs for a long time.
02:24I get flyers, just normal people like yourself.
02:28It could be you coming over. There'd be a gang of us.
02:31So, what do you do? You show them around Thailand or...?
02:35Just, yeah, make sure they'd be comfortable.
02:37You pay for everything, so just standard hotel, nothing luxury.
02:4120 quid a night, 15 quid a night, and we just show them a nice time.
02:46And they're getting paid after the holiday.
02:48How much do they get paid?
02:50I don't know. I don't know the wages.
02:54So, is there a lot of money to be made?
02:56Yeah, a lot of money.
02:59And is that why you do it? For money?
03:00It's not. I don't do it for the money. I don't do it for money.
03:04I've been brought up in this lifestyle from my young age.
03:06It's normal to me. This is nothing.
03:11How many of you are sort of operating in your crew?
03:15There's a big load of us. There's loads.
03:19It's a whole operation? Yeah, packaging.
03:21Getting the cases done.
03:23Changing the cases over.
03:25Booking the flights. Bank transfers.
03:27We're all getting bold.
03:30It's no somewhere, this shit.
03:33And how many flyers are you seeing leave every month?
03:37It's, uh, weekly.
03:39Weekly? Yeah, weekly.
03:41Shit.
03:43Weekly, it's just constant. It's just constant, constant.
03:47So, how do you find the flyers?
03:49It's just people who are young, dumb.
03:51Who's got no money.
03:53They come to us.
03:55Because they thought their friends are being it.
03:57And they're getting through.
03:59But it's then when we're seeing them back.
04:00That's when they shoot themselves then.
04:02They know the risk. They know the risk.
04:04They've had a free holiday.
04:05And now they're getting back in.
04:07But you better get the jobs on, you get me?
04:08When they get scared before they fly,
04:11you say to them, given you a free holiday, you need to...
04:13They know their job. Don't fuck about it.
04:15That's your job. You signed up to that, yeah?
04:17The day you come to me, you sign up to that job.
04:19If you think you're backing out now,
04:21I'm going to fucking tell you here and fucking tell them,
04:23I will chop you to what I'm saying.
04:24You're going to get home with that suitcase.
04:26I mean, you're going to fuck.
04:27Keep you down and get through.
04:27So, are you saying that you threaten them?
04:30It's not threatening them.
04:31Sounds quite threatening.
04:33How are you telling me that you're not doing a job
04:35when you're already signed up to the job?
04:37You're getting sent home with a fucking case.
04:40That sounds quite scary.
04:41That's how it is. Straight up.
04:45And do you ever feel bad when they get caught?
04:48Do your fat feel bad?
04:49Why would I feel bad?
04:50Say what?
04:53Why do you think so many people are doing it?
04:56Because it's easy.
04:58Easy work and you're getting quick pay from your home
05:00and you're eating mice.
05:07I mean, that was really shocking.
05:10I was...
05:12Fucking hell, I don't even know.
05:15She was extremely callous.
05:19She was pretty scary, to be honest.
05:22She said that it was their decision to do what they do.
05:26Because it's a free holiday and they're getting all of their expenses paid for.
05:31But I feel like there must be more of a reason that's bringing these people to Thailand.
05:38Summer 2025, two high-profile cases dominate the news coverage,
05:43featuring 18-year-old Bella Cully and 21-year-old Charlotte Lee.
05:47They were arrested on their way back from Thailand to the UK,
05:51with a combined estimated £1.4 million worth of cannabis in their suitcases.
05:57In Sri Lanka, Charlotte claimed she had no idea the drugs were in her luggage.
06:02In Tbilisi, Georgia, pregnant teen Bella said she'd been tortured with a hot iron and forced into it by a
06:09gang.
06:09So, can Z be right?
06:12A mule's really doing it purely for easy cash and a free holiday.
06:23To try and find out more, I've come to Pattaya, on the east coast of Thailand.
06:28A notorious seaside party resort, full of shops selling weed,
06:32that's grown in popularity since cannabis was legalised in 2022.
06:37Pattaya's one of the last locations Bella visited before she left the country in May last year.
06:43And being here, it feels really real, you know.
06:46I can imagine young people having the best time initially.
06:52Through my contact, I've been told that I might be able to meet someone
06:56who runs an operation here in Thailand,
06:59sending mules with suitcases full of weed back to the UK.
07:03So, I'm really hoping that he could be the key to unlocking one of these young British mules for me.
07:10My contact is connecting me to someone running a local drug smuggling operation.
07:16Any word from him, sir?
07:17I'm going to give him a call and see if he'll meet me tonight.
07:23Hello?
07:25Is it OK if I speak to T quickly?
07:28Hello?
07:31Hey, I'm in Pattaya this evening.
07:34Would you be up for maybe meeting me?
07:40Yeah, all good.
07:45T, as he wants to be called, is waiting for me in a car near a less crowded part of
07:50the local beach.
07:53I think that's him there.
07:56OK, stay there. Let me just go out and chat to him.
07:58OK.
08:05Do you want to come out and meet me on the beach?
08:07Yes.
08:08He's asked us to obscure his identity.
08:11OK, to just go up here?
08:13Yeah, cool.
08:19So, can you tell me a little bit about what it is that you do?
08:23We're getting people to fly over.
08:26We're filling their suitcases up.
08:27We are weird.
08:28They're flying into the UK.
08:30Once it lands, we pay them and they've done their job.
08:33When you say we, how many of you are there?
08:35There's three or four of us in my network.
08:38And you're the boss?
08:40I'm the boss, co-partner sort of thing.
08:42Sounds like a CEO business kind of...
08:45Well, whatever it is, it's the way we work and it's making us money.
08:49Mm-hm.
08:50These people that are flyers, how much are they getting paid?
08:53They get paid $5,000.
08:55$5,000?
08:56Yeah.
08:57That seems like not a lot of money to me.
08:59It's a lot of money if you haven't got it.
09:01Yeah.
09:02They get the holiday paid for.
09:04We give them two weeks in the hotel.
09:07We give them a little bit of spending, so probably another $1,000.
09:11In all, it will probably cost me $7,000 for the flyer.
09:14And so, tell me about the sort of people that you recruit.
09:17They're youngsters, mainly.
09:19But the flyer we've got now, she's 33, 34.
09:22She knows what she's doing.
09:23Her friend's done it.
09:24Then she's told her it's kosher, she's got back all right,
09:26she's been paid.
09:27Do they tend to land?
09:29We haven't lost anybody.
09:31Really?
09:31No.
09:32Not once?
09:33Not once, not yet.
09:34They did two last month, they landed perfectly.
09:37If we could get more recruiters, we can happily do more.
09:40Most people would never risk anything like this.
09:43Right.
09:44So you're admitting that the risk is quite high?
09:46Of course it is, yeah.
09:47If they open your suitcase and you're standing there,
09:50you're not going home, are you?
09:52Going through Singapore, going through Dubai,
09:54if they do get caught, they're going to get 20 years.
09:57If they get caught in the UK, they're not going to get 20 years.
10:00Would you do it?
10:01Would I do it? No way.
10:05No way.
10:06So who's really taking the risk here, would you say?
10:09The risk we're taking is the money if we lose it.
10:12The risk they're taking is their freedom.
10:16Exporting cannabis in this way means that tea's breaking
10:19both Thai and British laws.
10:21But it's the drug mules who will face the consequences
10:24if they get caught.
10:26He's just told me that they get paid five grand per flight.
10:30And there is a chance that he might introduce me
10:34to a girl that's flying whilst we're here.
10:38That feels like a breakthrough.
10:52Since Thailand legalised cannabis in 2022,
10:56it's widely available and cheap to buy.
11:00I'm investigating how British gangs have moved in
11:03to illegally export it back to the UK using young Brits as mules.
11:08In these photos taken in Thailand,
11:11Bella Cully looks like she's having a great time on holiday.
11:14But when she was stopped at Tbilisi Airport,
11:17she was found to have 14 kilograms of cannabis in her suitcase.
11:20In Sri Lanka, these detailed photos show Charlotte allegedly had 46 kilograms
11:27of synthetic cannabis called Kush inside two suitcases,
11:31packed down into multiple sealed bags.
11:40I want to find out more about how the weed is prepared before it's handed over
11:45to be taken back to the UK.
11:47So I've asked T to show me how it works.
11:50So I've been sent the location by T.
11:53And I can't show you where it is, but it looks pretty rural to me.
11:59We've gone way past the city, almost to a bit of an industrial track.
12:04It looks a bit like farmland.
12:09I think we're here.
12:11He's just there.
12:13Don't film.
12:15This small factory is where T buys his product in bulk.
12:19Guys, you can come in,
12:20but just make sure you don't film anything on the outside.
12:22Come.
12:27So this is where you vat pack the weed?
12:30Yeah, this is one of our facilities.
12:32Do you know what?
12:33It smells so much.
12:35It is.
12:36You can smell the loud.
12:37That's why we call it loud.
12:38OK.
12:39Because it stinks.
12:40It's loud.
12:48This is a vat pack machine.
12:50Oh, just this thing?
12:51Just this little thing.
12:52It just sucks all the air out.
12:53OK.
12:54So it's airtight and there's no smell.
12:56People do this for food in the freezers.
12:59It's this really simple process.
13:03As you can see, I don't want to touch them.
13:06They're not being swaffed.
13:08Why don't you want to touch them?
13:09Because of my fingerprints.
13:12In case the suitcase gets caught.
13:14Exactly.
13:15I moan to the government,
13:16so why would I want to be touching anything?
13:18What we're seeing here,
13:19is that going to go into the suitcase?
13:21Yeah, that's good.
13:22That's flying with her.
13:27How much money is coming through here a week, would you say?
13:30This crop, they did 1,400 kilos.
13:36They're selling for £700, £800 a kilo to us.
13:39All right.
13:39And so how much money is that going to make you?
13:42Well, when there's 20 keeves there,
13:44there's nowhere near 20 there at the minute.
13:46Street value UK, that's £3,000 a kilo.
13:50So one suitcase will make me £65,000 to £70,000.
13:54£65,000 to £70,000?
13:56Yeah.
13:57This is what we call tops.
13:58It's high grade.
13:59This weed is very strong.
14:01It's a high THC.
14:03You smoke a joint of this, you'll know about it.
14:06And is that why it's selling for so much?
14:08Yeah, correct.
14:09So after this gets backpacks, what happens to it?
14:12It's not illegal, so I can drive anywhere with it.
14:14Right.
14:15And if I do get stopped...
14:17I've never been stopped, what are they going to say to me?
14:19Nothing.
14:20So you take it to the flyer?
14:21I take it to the flyer, yeah.
14:23Give her instructions.
14:25You're going to get your return ticket,
14:27and when you land, you ring this number,
14:29and they will come and pick you up, and they'll pick the weed up,
14:31and they will give you your £5,000.
14:33Done.
14:34So when are you going to meet her?
14:35I'm going to meet her in the next day or two.
14:37Okay.
14:41Is that it then, or what's in there?
14:44I messed up a lot.
14:46Oh, shit.
14:48Oh, shit.
14:49Wow.
14:50Is that it?
14:52Sorry, that weed smells quite a lot.
14:55The aroma is coming from the whole building.
14:58You ain't going to smell no weed.
14:59If you smell weed, we're fucked.
15:01Right.
15:02Basically.
15:03You can't smell it.
15:05Yeah, I do know what you mean.
15:06Can you smell it?
15:06Not really, no.
15:08If they're going to x-ray your suitcase, they're going to know what's in there.
15:12It's just going through customs, and it's going through,
15:16because they're not checking suitcases.
15:18But it feels like you're sort of safe in Thailand.
15:22But it's the people...
15:23But if you've got money, money talks.
15:25You could come into any farm or any grow shop and buy weed.
15:27Nobody's going to ask you any questions.
15:31But it's when it becomes illegal, right?
15:33But it's not illegal.
15:34It is once you leave the country.
15:36It's not illegal.
15:37Once it leaves the country.
15:38But the other thing is, how many suitcases go through Bangkok airport?
15:43It's too many.
15:46I saw a lot of weed today, and it just makes me think about the flyer.
15:53It's becoming so much more real.
15:55I mean, someone's taking all of that weed in a suitcase.
16:03People that we've met speak about the flyers,
16:06and they almost talk about them as if they're not even people.
16:10So I really want to almost put a face to the person
16:13that they're talking about
16:14and understand what their motivations are to do something like this.
16:20I want to speak to T about his latest drug meal,
16:23so I arrange to meet him in Bangkok.
16:27Hey, take a seat.
16:33What can you tell me about her?
16:35Not a lot, really, apart from she's doing a job
16:37and you know what's in the suitcase.
16:39When's she flying?
16:40She'll be going very soon.
16:42Where's she flying to?
16:43I can't tell you that.
16:46Okay.
16:47It's not worth the risk for us.
16:49And it's her first time?
16:50Yeah, it's her first time.
16:52And if they did say that they didn't want to do it,
16:55you'd just let it slide?
16:57I don't know about letting it slide.
16:58I would put as much pressure on her as I can,
17:00but I'm not rehearsing or forcing anyone.
17:04What are the chances of us speaking to her, do you think?
17:08I have mentioned it to her yesterday.
17:11Don't want you asking her too much or spooking her.
17:14We don't want her getting nervous.
17:16Are you okay to call her now?
17:18Yeah, I can do that.
17:28Hello?
17:30Remember I told you yesterday that we're going to get you to do an interview?
17:38You can do it, yeah?
17:42Okay.
17:44Wait, wait.
17:47So she's agreed?
17:48Yeah, she's agreed.
17:49So will you send us the location tonight of where to come to?
17:52I will do, yeah.
17:53Okay.
18:13We are waiting in a location in Bangkok, and I've been messaging T,
18:19and he's told me that he's going to bring the flyer here.
18:23I'm hoping that she turns up.
18:27It's been months since I started this investigation,
18:30and I've been trying to speak to someone like Bella and Charlotte
18:33to get their side of the story.
18:36How long have you been waiting for?
18:38For a few hours now, and they still haven't showed up.
18:44This has been so hard, I'm absolutely exhausted.
18:48It takes a lot.
18:49We're just calling him, trying, and, you know, sometimes it's positive,
18:55sometimes you just don't know how it's going to turn out.
18:59After more waiting, finally a car pulls up.
19:04I spot T.
19:06He's brought his mules.
19:08They're here.
19:09Okay, get out of the car.
19:18Your eyelashes look nice.
19:19I know, they're awful now.
19:21Really nice.
19:21And you're so beautiful, you know.
19:23So are you!
19:25Lucy, as she wants to be called, lives and works in the UK.
19:30I'm a bit nervous, never been in TV.
19:34When did you come to Thailand?
19:35A few days ago, like one week.
19:37Wow.
19:38How are you finding it?
19:39Hot.
19:40Yeah, what I like.
19:41I enjoy.
19:42And how much money have they given you for your holidays?
19:46So far, obviously, I got a ticket and hotel,
19:49and then £1,000 to spend.
19:52Was that part of the reason why you decided to come,
19:55because of the holiday, or...?
19:56I always wanted to visit Thailand anyway, and I felt like, you know,
20:00I got an opportunity now, so why not?
20:05What sort of job did you do in the UK?
20:07So I'm working at an office job Monday, Friday.
20:11How did you get into this?
20:14I know one European friend, and she already did it.
20:17So she asked me if I want to make some extra money,
20:21and I agreed to do it.
20:23Because I feel like in England I've been working for so many years,
20:27and I cannot ever save anything.
20:28I just work, you know, go home, work, go home,
20:31and I just pay my beers, I pay so much tax.
20:34So I feel like I need extra money, that's why.
20:37I mean, 5K doesn't feel like a lot of money
20:41to do what you're doing.
20:43For me, it's, it's, it's good amount of money.
20:46But are you not scared about what you're about to do?
20:49No.
20:50Why?
20:50I feel always positive.
20:52You have to think positive,
20:54then positive things happen in your life.
21:00Do you know sort of what the repercussions would be
21:03if you did get caught?
21:06I don't think that way.
21:07I think that I will never get caught.
21:09But for some people, they could end up in prison in the UK.
21:13I don't think that way.
21:14I don't want to think that way.
21:15I think just everything would be okay.
21:21She didn't seem scared.
21:23She seemed pretty confident.
21:25There was almost a brazenness about her.
21:28And I thought she very much knew what she was getting herself into.
21:35But 5K for that much risk feels completely unfair.
21:42And it falls on her shoulders.
21:45It doesn't fall on T's shoulders.
21:47I'm hoping to meet Lucy again before she gets on a plane back to the UK.
21:51But will she be as confident when she comes face to face with a suitcase full of weed?
22:07In the summer of 2025, Bella and Charlotte flew out of Bangkok just days apart before they were caught.
22:16Since 2023, 400 Brits have been arrested like this in countries outside of the UK.
22:23The British Embassy has a phone line to support any drug mules having a last-minute change of heart.
22:30This is our reception area and if anybody does decide to not take the drugs and need to get in
22:38touch with us urgently, they can come to the embassy, just pick up that receiver and they will get put
22:44through to somebody who will then talk them through it and then offer them guidance and assistance.
22:50And would they face any criminal charges or be prosecuted if they did something like that?
22:56Not if they're deciding that they just basically want to get on a plane, go back to the UK without
23:01caseloads of cannabis.
23:05We need to get out there to warn people not to do it, but trying to make people aware of
23:11the risks can be very, very difficult.
23:13We're finding that there's sort of 18 to 35-year-olds of a very poor social economic background in the
23:20UK and therefore the offer of a free holiday, free stay in Thailand just to bring a couple of cases
23:29back is then appealing.
23:30Do you think that this is going to be possible to prevent and stop altogether?
23:36We hope so, yes.
23:37Working with the Thai authorities, we do hope that there can be a change, but it's trying to change people's
23:44behaviour, people's mindset.
23:46How do we reach out to these people to let them know of the dangers of taking the cases in
23:53the first place?
23:54You know, this could ruin your life.
23:59Media reports detail that after her arrest in Tbilisi Airport, a then pregnant Bella was held in prison.
24:07After six months in jail, she was found guilty.
24:11But she struck a plea deal.
24:13Her family paid £137,000 to reduce the sentence to time already served, avoiding a possible 20-year jail term.
24:22Bella, how are you doing?
24:24How are you doing?
24:24Nothing really.
24:26But a year on, former flight attendant Charlotte is still in a Sri Lankan jail, awaiting trial where she could
24:33face a 25-year sentence.
24:42With the risk of being caught and jailed, I want to meet Lucy again, to see if she still plans
24:48to smuggle the drugs.
24:50I got a call from Tee today saying that he absolutely does not want me to film with Lucy in
24:56her hotel.
24:57He's arranging for us to meet Lucy at the location, where he'll hand over the cannabis.
25:02For the security of his operation, Tee isn't showing me the suitcase Lucy will actually be flying with.
25:11Hi, Lucy.
25:12I am.
25:14How many days is it until you fly?
25:17I'm still waiting for my ticket.
25:19OK, so you don't actually know.
25:20No yet.
25:21That must be quite anxiety-inducing, knowing when you're...
25:25Yeah, but I'm ready to go anytime.
25:27I'm just waiting for the instructions.
25:30Mm-hmm.
25:31OK.
25:32Yeah.
25:33Your friends and family back home, do they just think you're on holiday?
25:37They do?
25:38You haven't told them what you're doing?
25:39Yeah, nobody.
25:41Nobody knows?
25:42Nobody.
25:43Have you seen the suitcase of weed yet?
25:46No yet.
25:47Do you think when you see it, it's going to change your mind at all?
25:50Er, no.
25:51Definitely no.
25:55Where do you see it?
25:56Hi.
25:57See the nail tape?
25:58Yeah.
26:00Well, your suitcase is there.
26:01Yeah.
26:02You get a text with your fly and stuff on it.
26:06OK.
26:07Can we see what's inside the suitcase?
26:10I don't really want you looking inside the suitcase.
26:12Well, it's up to her.
26:14It's up to her?
26:15Yeah.
26:16Because she wants to look in English time.
26:18OK.
26:27So I will wait for Thomas to stop?
26:30Yeah.
26:30Mm-hmm.
26:32For me, I'm just, I'm feeling a bit anxious because I feel like she's maybe taking all the pressure
26:38and you're not going to deal with any repercussions.
26:41Yeah, she knows what's going on.
26:42She's a confident girl.
26:44And she doesn't have to do it, I'm assuming.
26:47She's ready to go, so I wouldn't even be putting thoughts like that in her mind.
26:51Yeah.
26:54Yeah.
26:56OK.
27:18Oh, shit.
27:19OK.
27:20Do you mind just putting it flat on the floor?
27:25I think there's more in there as well.
27:28There's, like, two sections of it.
27:32Lucy.
27:32I don't want to look.
27:34That's...
27:36Why don't you want to look?
27:39Don't look at it if you don't want to, but I just want to know why.
27:44Yeah, it's a lot.
27:51God, that is a lot of weed.
27:55As far as I know, it's 20 kg.
27:57Yeah.
27:59Yeah.
28:01Has seeing it made a difference, do you think?
28:03Obviously, I'm shocked how much it's done, but then I'm still confident to do it.
28:08Yeah.
28:09Because it's a lot.
28:11Yeah, it is a lot.
28:14It kind of brings it a bit more to life, doesn't it?
28:17Yeah.
28:18Definitely.
28:21Yeah, I don't really know what to think, to be honest.
28:26It's, like, kind of uncomfortable to watch.
28:39Try not to think about it.
28:43You OK?
28:44Yes.
28:45Sure?
28:45Mm-hmm.
28:56Should I close it?
28:58Yeah.
28:59Because I don't feel comfortable when you suffer.
29:01A hundred percent.
29:03I'm not comfortable with that.
29:13Can I ask you, Lucy, why you don't feel comfortable with it open?
29:16I mean, obviously, when I see the idea, I was like, what's going on?
29:20Like, I have to fly back and, yeah.
29:22I just, like I said, I don't want to lose my confidence.
29:25So when I keep looking around, I start thinking, overthinking.
29:33That was really shocking.
29:36I'm, like, shaking after that.
29:39I feel like I'm, you know, compromised as a person, as a journalist.
29:43Like, part of me just wanted to be like, you know, you don't have to do this.
29:46But tea was there.
29:48It's difficult.
29:50And the thing that struck me the most was she was so confident.
29:54And then, today, she said she didn't want to see what was inside the suitcase.
29:58As soon as it opened, she freaked out.
30:01And I can understand why.
30:03I mean, seeing all of that weed in the suitcase was shocking.
30:08It was so hard to watch when she turned away and then when she looked at it
30:15and then you could see that she was visibly affected.
30:18You could just see in her eyes, you could see by her mannerisms
30:22that she's scared and obviously she's scared.
30:26I'm now left wondering if Lucy will even attempt to make the return journey
30:31carrying the drugs.
30:35It's a hard one because it's like, I want her to arrive safely in the UK,
30:41but I don't want her to commit a crime.
30:44I don't want her to do any of it, but I can't stop her.
31:05It's early in the morning and I'm back in the UK.
31:08First step over here for me, please.
31:11Do you have your passport?
31:12Flights from Thailand are landing at one of the country's busiest airports.
31:17What is that?
31:18Where have you travelled in from?
31:20Border force officers are waiting in the arrivals section
31:23as passengers leave the airport.
31:26So, do you sort of stand here as flights are coming in?
31:30Yeah.
31:30The idea is obviously everybody's observed when they're walking down.
31:34OK.
31:35The officers are on the lookout for suitcases that might contain drugs.
31:40Cannabis was present in 93% of all drugs seized by border force in 2025,
31:45with over 62,000 illegal imports intercepted.
31:50What sort of person are you looking out for?
31:52Something that's slightly out of the ordinary.
31:55You know, something that stands out as not the normal passenger that's been away on holiday.
32:02Is it mainly body language that you're looking out for?
32:04A lot of what we look for is body language.
32:06You can tell by how someone acts when they're around you.
32:09But we also go off what they're saying and if it makes sense.
32:13So, you know, you speak to someone, then if they've been on a proper holiday,
32:15they'll be able to tell you about their holiday.
32:17But if they've been out there for any other reason, they're not able to give you specific details
32:20or it just seems like a very generic whitewashed story as it were
32:24and you're able to dig a bit more into that
32:27and that often leads into us then going into bag searches and finding whatever we find.
32:34Do you often see cannabis coming from Thailand here?
32:37Cannabis is a popular drug that's travelling through the airport at the present moment in time.
32:44It's a little bit like a needle in a haystack with the amount of passengers that are coming through.
32:51Come on, sir. Just have over here for two seconds.
32:54Can I just see your passport, please?
32:55So, this is all your luggage?
32:57Yeah.
32:57You packed it yourself?
32:58Yeah.
33:01Excuse me.
33:03Hello?
33:04Hello?
33:05Yeah, let's go.
33:06Yeah.
33:06What's happening?
33:08Suddenly, one of the officers gestures for me to go into one of the back rooms.
33:12I'm told a woman has been detained.
33:15Some cannabis.
33:16Oh, wow.
33:23Oh, she was travelling business class?
33:28Yeah.
33:28So, just tell me what's going on.
33:31So, another team in the airport have found a suitcase full of cannabis.
33:37We're not allowed to go near it because it's now going to be used as evidence.
33:41But, yeah, it's a suitcase full of weed.
33:43You can see a lot of weed inside.
33:46They're in vat packs and they're now putting it through their luggage x-ray machine.
33:53I'm told the woman is a British national and was carrying roughly 30 kilograms of cannabis.
34:00If it's the same as the high quality weed I saw in Thailand, that's an estimated street
34:06value in the UK of around half a million pounds.
34:10Where was she coming from?
34:11She travelled from Thailand, so Bangkok.
34:13What will happen to her now?
34:15So, first point will be for some questioning.
34:19Then that will be handed over to the National Crime Agency.
34:21We will then do further investigations, look into the weight, look into the provenance of it
34:26and then they will take it further into the judicial system.
34:30The penalty for cannabis smuggling is up to 14 years or an unlimited fine or a combination of both.
34:36Since the legalisation of cannabis in Thailand, have you seen an increase in people bringing it into the country?
34:42Over the last year, we've seized a considerable amount more than the previous year.
34:47Our seizure statistics are up by 66%.
34:50Wow.
34:51But what that does show is that Border Force is taking a robust approach
34:55to those who seek to smuggle cannabis into the country.
34:58If you bring it in, we will find it and you will face the penalties that can be imposed.
35:02Do you think enough is being done here?
35:05Yes.
35:05We're working with partners upstream, the Thai authorities.
35:08We need to really deter those who seek to bring cannabis into the UK.
35:12From everything that I've filmed so far, people are telling me that it seems to be quite an easy thing
35:17to do.
35:17People are quite brazen about it.
35:19I think that can be a misconception because you've been here today, you've seen our offices in action.
35:24You know, we take a strong approach to this.
35:29Last year, the National Crime Agency says 28 tonnes of cannabis was seized after arriving at UK airports.
35:37Do you see a lot of young people that are carrying cannabis?
35:41Yeah, young people.
35:42And you've got the empathetic side along the lines of you've got a young person caught that could end up
35:47doing X amount of years in prison for a tiny amount of money.
35:51It's not worth it. It really isn't worth it.
35:53So we're catching a lot.
35:55Really?
35:56Mm-hmm.
36:00We were here for about half an hour and they caught someone coming from Thailand.
36:06So that in itself shows how rife it is.
36:09And I mean, that person could have been Lucy.
36:14It makes me think, is she going to even get through?
36:26Hello?
36:27Hey, you OK?
36:29Yeah, you're good.
36:31Good.
36:32Um, I just wanted to know what's happened to Lucy.
36:35Has she arrived back, OK?
36:40So, she's landed but she hasn't been arrested?
36:45OK.
36:46All right.
36:48I mean, yeah, if she would meet me that would be amazing.
36:54OK, thank you.
36:56Thanks.
36:56Bye.
37:00So, she did it.
37:01She's managed to land and she hasn't been arrested.
37:06I just want to know how she was feeling when she did it and if she would want to do
37:11it again.
37:22Hi, Lucy.
37:23Hi.
37:24You made it back?
37:25Made it.
37:26How are you feeling?
37:28Relieved that it's over?
37:29Definitely, yeah.
37:31Last time I saw you, it was really intense.
37:33What happened when you got back to the UK?
37:35So, I landed, called the number I have to call and then handed the suitcase.
37:41Mm-hmm.
37:42And who was it exactly that picked you up in the UK once you got there?
37:46I cannot really say anything.
37:48I just can tell you that I handed the luggage and I got my money and that's all.
37:53Tell me what you were feeling when you were going through the airport because, I mean, when I left you,
37:58I went through Thai security, back to the UK.
38:02There were hundreds of security guards.
38:05Yeah.
38:05You know, the most stressful I felt was when I landed in England and when I was waiting for my
38:11suitcase to arrive and it was one of the last one.
38:15It took ages.
38:18You know, when I was looking around, I saw, like, police and, you know, I felt stressed.
38:25But then when I saw my suitcase, I felt like, yeah, I made it.
38:29How did you feel at that stage?
38:32Mmm, it's scared.
38:35Yeah.
38:38How did they pay you?
38:39Cash.
38:40£5,000 in cash?
38:42Yeah.
38:43What are you going to do with it?
38:45Uh, I'm flying tomorrow to Mexico, holiday.
38:48Really?
38:48Yeah.
38:49Do you think it was worth it?
38:51Um, it's a lot of money and I did it, so yes, I'll say yes, it was worth it.
38:57Do you think you'd do it again?
38:59If you ask me today, I'll say no, but probably in a few weeks.
39:03So today you'll say no, but in a few weeks' time, maybe?
39:06Exactly. I don't know, maybe.
39:07Maybe.
39:07Exactly.
39:07I cannot tell you what I will think in a few weeks or a few months, but for now, no.
39:11I feel like a lot of people maybe would watch this and feel a bit angry.
39:19That kind of seems like to me that you're not really taking into account the repercussions of what you're doing.
39:27No.
39:28No.
39:29No.
39:29You could face years in prison for this kind of thing.
39:32But I didn't.
39:34I'm here talking to you, so I don't think about it that way.
39:38Yeah.
39:41I was quite surprised, to be honest.
39:45And the thing that surprised me was not even that she made it through, but that she just seemed so
39:54chill about it.
39:55The way she spoke about it, she transported that huge suitcase full of weed from Thailand, literally as if it
40:03was nothing.
40:04But it's clear that A, she's doing it for money, and B, she's doing it because she doesn't think she's
40:11going to be caught.
40:12Lucy got away with drug smuggling and has returned to her confident self.
40:16She might have forgotten how nervous she was when she first saw that suitcase full of weed.
40:21But I saw how the drug dealers treat mules, putting all the risk on them.
40:26Last time in Thailand, she was visibly scared.
40:31I saw her as a very vulnerable human being, as someone that was potentially coerced.
40:38So it seems like the only way to stop this is authorities need to get stricter.
40:43Because the fact that she made it through Thailand and through the UK with a suitcase full of weed, I
40:49mean, we saw the weed, that's bonkers.
40:51And there's no news.
41:20That nichol Emily has returned to her backyard.
41:20But at the same time we've been able to again see her blambre.
41:58Execution or set up the mystery still haunts murder of the Essex boys blood and betrayal stream now on Channel
42:064.
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