Cannabis couriers duped by traffickers into thinking UK authorities are soft on the drug, NCA says
Hundreds of cannabis couriers have been caught trying to smuggle suitcases full of the drug through British airports.
They are being duped by traffickers into thinking the UK authorities are soft on cannabis and will let them off with a fine, according to the National Crime Agency.
A man who landed from Los Angeles with 158 kilos of the Class-B drug – with a street value of £1m – in his and his children’s bags was jailed for more than three years in July.
Eleven British passengers from Thailand were arrested this month at Birmingham airport when Border Force officials allegedly found 510 kilos of cannabis in their bags.
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A huge haul of cannabis, bagged up after it was seized at Manchester Airport. Pic: NCA/PA
Charles Yates, the NCA’s deputy director, said: “It’s quite brazen. Couriers are just walking through the airports with suitcases full of cannabis, thinking they are not going to be detected and if they are all they will get is a fine.
“The reality is very different and we are making many arrests and seeing couriers go to jail. The figures have risen dramatically in the past couple of years.”
There were 17 such arrests in 2022, 136 last year and already this year there have been 378 so far. In the same period the amount of cannabis seized has gone up from two to 15 tonnes.
Pic: NCA/PA
Most of the couriers, who can be paid up to £10,000 by crime gangs, are arriving from countries which have legalised cannabis for personal use and are allowing cultivation.
Among the dozen or so countries are Canada, Thailand, Germany and parts of the United States.
Mr Yates said many among the UK’s two million pot smokers believed, wrongly, that cannabis grown legally was a better, stronger product and were prepared to pay more for it.
“Actually, the THC content (potency) is relatively similar between UK grown and legally grown cannabis. I think the drug traffickers are just good at marketing it in the UK.”
Pic: NCA/PA
Canadian Chelsea Allingham, 40, arrived at Heathrow from Toronto in May with two suitcases full of cannabis and had reached the bar of her hotel when NCA officers walked up and arrested her in handcuffs.
Border Force officers had detected the drug, but let Allingham collect her bags from the carousel and followed her as she handed them over and settled down for a celebration drink. She was jailed for 10 months.
NCA Director General of Threats James Babbage said: “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.
“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.”
Minister for Migration and Citizenship, Seema Malhotra said: “Illegal drugs cause harm to communities and fuel criminal gangs. We will not tolerate people attempting to bring them into our country.
“Our Border Force officers are committed to finding and seizing cannabis and other illegal drugs, and last year Border Force seized a record amount of cannabis.
“Anyone caught bringing cannabis to the UK will face the full force of the law, and Border Force will continue to work relentlessly alongside the NCA to keep illegal substances off our streets.”
A teenage girl who was killed after getting out of a police car on the M5 in Somerset has been named.
Tamzin Hall, 17 and from Wellington, was hit by a vehicle that was travelling southbound between junction 24 for Bridgwater and junction 25 for Taunton shortly after 11pm on Monday.
She had exited a police vehicle that had stopped on the northbound side of the motorway while transporting her.
A mandatory referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is now carrying out its own investigation into what happened.
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Avon and Somerset Police said: “Our thoughts and sympathies go out to Tamzin’s family for their devastating loss.
“A specially-trained family liaison officer remains in contact with them to keep them updated and to provide support.
“The family have asked for privacy at this difficult time.”
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The police watchdog, the IOPC, has been asked to investigate.
In a statement, director David Ford, said: “This was a truly tragic incident and my thoughts are with Tamzin’s family and friends and everyone affected by the events of that evening.
“We are contacting her family to express our sympathies, explain our role, and set out how our investigation will progress. We will keep them fully updated as our investigation continues.”
Paramedics attended the motorway within minutes of the girl being hit but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The motorway was closed in both directions while investigations took place. It was fully reopened shortly after 11am on Tuesday, Nationals Highways said.
A survivors group advocating for women allegedly assaulted by Mohamed al Fayed has said it is “grateful another abuser has been unmasked”, after allegations his brother Salah also participated in the abuse.
Justice for Harrods Survivors says it has “credible evidence” suggesting the sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated at Harrods and the billionaire’s properties “was not limited to Mr al Fayed himself”.
The group’s statement comes after three women told BBC News they were sexually assaulted by al Fayed’s brother, Salah.
One woman said she was raped by Mohamed al Fayed while working at Harrods.
Helen, who has waived her right to anonymity, said she then took a job working for his brother as an escape. She alleges she was drugged and sexually assaulted while working at Salah’s home on Park Lane, London.
Two other women have told the BBC they were taken to Monaco and the South of France, where Salah sexually abused them.
Mohamed al Fayed. Pic: AP
The Justice for Harrod Survivors representatives said: “We are proud to support the survivors of Salah Fayed’s abuse and are committed to achieving justice for them, no matter what it takes.”
The group added it “looks forward to the others on whom we have credible evidence – whether abusers themselves or enablers facilitating that abuse – being exposed in due course”.
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Salah was one of the three Fayed brothers who co-owned Harrods.
The business, which was sold to Qatar Holdings when Mohamed al Fayed retired in 2010, has said it “supports the bravery of these women in coming forward”.
A statement issued by the famous store on Thursday evening continued: “We encourage these survivors to come forward and make their claims to the Harrods scheme, where they can apply for compensation, as well as support from a counselling perspective and through an independent survivor advocate.
“We also hope that they are looking at every appropriate avenue to them in their pursuit of justice, whether that be Harrods, the police or the Fayed family and estate.”
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Bianca Gascoigne speaks about Al Fayed abuse
The Justice for Harrods Survivors group previously said more than 400 people had contacted them regarding accusations about Mohamed al Fayed, who died last year.
One of those alleged to have been abused is Bianca Gascoigne, the daughter of former England player Paul.
Speaking to Sky News in October, Gascoigne said she was groomed and sexually assaulted by al Fayed when she worked at Harrods as a teenager.
UK
Wes Streeting ‘crossed the line’ by opposing assisted dying in public, says Labour peer Harriet Harman
Wes Streeting “crossed the line” by opposing assisted dying in public and the argument shouldn’t “come down to resources”, a Labour peer has said.
Speaking on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Baroness Harriet Harman criticised the health secretary for revealing how he is going to vote on the matter when it comes before parliament later this month.
MPs are being given a free vote, meaning they can side with their conscience and not party lines, so the government is supposed to be staying neutral.
But Mr Streeting has made clear he will vote against legalising assisted dying, citing concerns end-of-life care is not good enough for people to make an informed choice, and that some could feel pressured into the decision to save the NHS money.
He has also ordered a review into the potential costs of changing the law, warning it could come at the expense of other NHS services if implemented.
Baroness Harman said Mr Streeting has “crossed the line in two ways”.
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“He should not have said how he was going to vote, because that breaches neutrality and sends a signal,” she said.
“And secondly… he’s said the problem is that it will cost money to bring in an assisted dying measure, and therefore he will have to cut other services.
“But paradoxically, he also said it would be a slippery slope because people will be forced to bring about their own death in order to save the NHS money. Well, it can’t be doing both things.
“It can’t be both costing the NHS money and saving the NHS money.”
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Review into assisted dying costs
Baroness Harman said the argument “should not come down to resources” as it is a “huge moral issue” affecting “only a tiny number of people”.
She added that people should not mistake Mr Streeting for being “a kind of proxy for Keir Starmer”.
“The government is genuinely neutral and all of those backbenchers, they can vote whichever way they want,” she added.
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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously expressed support for assisted dying, but it is not clear how he intends to vote on the issue or if he will make his decision public ahead of time.
The cabinet has varying views on the topic, with the likes of Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood siding with Mr Streeting in her opposition but Energy Secretary Ed Miliband being for it.
Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband is said to support the bill. Pic: Reuters
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has concerns. Pic: Reuters
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The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is being championed by Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater, who wants to give people with six months left to live the choice to end their lives.
Under her proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.
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Labour MP Kim Leadbeater discusses End of Life Bill
The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.
MPs will debate and vote on the legislation on 29 November, in what will be the first Commons vote on assisted dying since 2015, when the proposal was defeated.
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