British authorities have asked Thai police to arrest Britons smuggling cannabis back to the UK in exchange for a free holiday in Thailand with pocket money.
Pol Lt Gen Phanurat Lukboon, secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), revealed this to reporters on Wednesday.
He 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 delegation told them 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.
Pol Lt Gen Phanurat said British authorities have been seizing hundreds of kilogrammes of cannabis smuggled from Thailand. The amount had risen significantly this year.
“These people who are recruited in Britain are not tricked. They are tempted with free tours, accommodation and meals in Thailand, plus pocket money, in exchange for their agreement to bring cannabis back to Britain,” he said.
He said narcotics officials have already begun an investigation.
Pol Lt Gen Phanurat 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.
A search of their rented condominium and house in Bangkok found 36kg of cannabis in sealed packages, packaging equipment and 1.4 kilogrammes of cannabis resin with illegally high content of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
Prin Mekanandha, ONCB director of narcotics law enforcement, 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, he said.
Mr Prin said the cannabis was also being supplied to people from Britain and other countries who were recruited via the Telegram app and did not need to apply for visas to enter Britain.
They hid the cannabis in their luggage and then returned to Britain, Mr Prin said.
The Thai government legalised cannabis on June 9, 2022.
