British authorities have asked Thai police to arrest Britons smuggling cannabis back to the UK in exchange for a free holiday in Thailand.
The Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) said British ambassador Mark Gooding introduced visiting officials from the UK's National Crime Agency to the ONCB last month. They asked for cooperation in preventing the smuggling of cannabis into Britain.
The UK officials said that drug smugglers were recruiting people in Britain through the Telegram chat app. They offered free tours to Thailand, plus pocket money, in exchange for smuggling cannabis back to Britain.
British authorities have been seizing hundreds of kilogrammes of cannabis smuggled from Thailand. The amount had risen significantly this year.
Police also said that on Monday they found a parcel declared to contain a dietary supplement that hid 210 grammes of a precursor for making ecstasy. The parcel was sent from the UK to a British man and a Dutchman living in Bangkok.
The ONCB said the two men had arrived in Thailand as tourists about four months ago. They were believed to be sourcing cannabis in Thailand for smuggling to Britain.
The seized cannabis was about to be mailed in parcels to Britain. Narcotics police found slips declaring the mailed parcels as containing pillows.
The Thai government legalised cannabis on June 9, 2022.
