British Man Arrested for Smuggling £1M Cannabis from Thailand

[webfact]

 

Nathaniel Benson, a 44-year-old from Leeds, West Yorkshire, was arrested at Heathrow Airport after allegedly attempting to smuggle £1 million (44 million baht) worth of cannabis from Bangkok, Thailand. The arrest occurred on Wednesday, September 18, soon after Benson arrived with his two young children.

 

Border Force officers discovered 160 packages of cannabis distributed across five suitcases, with one bag reportedly checked under a child’s name.

 

The National Crime Agency (NCA) weighed the drugs at over 100 kilograms, with an estimated street value of £1 million. Benson was charged with importing Class B drugs following an extensive interrogation by the NCA.

 

Benson appeared in Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on Friday, where he was remanded in custody. He is set to reappear at Isleworth Crown Court on October 24. A 41-year-old woman traveling with the family was also arrested but has since been released on bail.

Ian Truby, NCA senior investigating officer, warned, “Working with Border Force, we’re clamping down on drug smuggling. If you’re caught, a prison cell awaits.”

 

In August, the NCA issued a warning to travelers from cannabis hubs like Thailand, Canada, and the US, highlighting the severe penalties for smuggling drugs into the UK. Cannabis seizures have risen significantly this year, tripling last year's figures.

 

In a related incident, professional footballer Jay Emmanuel-Thomas was charged with attempting to smuggle £600,000 worth of cannabis through Stansted Airport.

 

The 33-year-old Greenock Morton striker was arrested by NCA officers in Inverclyde and later dismissed from the Scottish Championship club.

 

TOP: File photo for reference only

 

-- 2024-09-23

 

 

 

[Xonax]

Lucky for him, that Thai customs didn't arrest him, but chose to inform customs in UK instead.

[lordgrinz]

Incredible concealment skills.....LOL

[Tropicalevo]

Sorry, but the guy is a right nincompoop.

Smuggling drugs and trying to use two young kids as cover?

Hopefully, the 41 year old woman is their mother.

Edited 3 hours ago by Tropicalevo

[JoePai]

But it was for personal use only....

[WHansen]

Brains of a cockroach.

Should've plugged it 😫

[tomacht8]

100kg poorly packaged. The sniffer dogs must have been wagging their tails in excitement miles before the plane landed.

[lordgrinz]

2 minutes ago, tomacht8 said:

100kg poorly packaged. The sniffer dogs must have been wagging their tails in excitement miles before the plane landed.

 

I'm pretty sure they knew when the luggage was scanned inbound as well, I'm sure the guy stationed at the monitor was chuckling.

Edited 2 hours ago by lordgrinz

[hotchilli]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Nathaniel Benson, a 44-year-old from Leeds, West Yorkshire, was arrested at Heathrow Airport after allegedly attempting to smuggle £1 million (44 million baht) worth of cannabis from Bangkok, Thailand. The arrest occurred on Wednesday, September 18, soon after Benson arrived with his two young children.

He can kiss any holiday plans he had of returning to Thailand anytime soon.

[Dont confuse me]

I'm surprised it wasn't found when leaving thailand. Unless it was discovered and the Thai's gave the UK a heads up? 

 

[moe666]

1 hour ago, Tropicalevo said:

Sorry, but the guy is a right nincompoop.

Smuggling drugs and trying to use two young kids as cover?

Hopefully, the 41 year old woman is their mother.

He played football for arsenal

[ryandb]

this is the 2nd one in a week I've read about the other was Jay Emanuel Thomas an ex Arsenal player who played for Rayong over here and now in Scottish lower leagues, absolute idiots but at least it's serving time in the UK. I guess

[lordgrinz]

Just now, ryandb said:

this is the 2nd one in a week I've read about the other was Jay Emanuel Thomas an ex Arsenal player who played for Rayong over here and now in Scottish lower leagues, absolute idiots but at least it's serving time in the UK. I guess

 

I mean they scan luggage for people smuggling more than 200 cigarettes, correct? Did they honestly believe luggage stuffed to the brim with marijuana would go unnoticed?

[Ebumbu]

Hell, I can buy that amount on this site's sponsor for about 20,000 baht!  🙂

[gravity101]

100kg for £1m 🤔. He'd take forvever selling all that in 1g bags.

[SiSePuede419]

I want to go to Hempholme, Yorkshire;  Hempton, Hempstead and Hempnall, Norfolk; Hempton Wainhill, Oxfordshire; Hempstead, Essex and Hempstead, Gloucestershire (two separate villages with the same name) and ask the local villagers if they have any bloody idea what their wonderful hamlets are named after...? 😀

Edited 1 hour ago by SiSePuede419

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

The National Crime Agency (NCA) weighed the drugs at over 100 kilograms, with an estimated street value of £1 million. Benson was charged with importing Class B drugs following an extensive interrogation by the NCA.

 

Quick calculation, cannabis in Thailand sells for max 15kbht/kg, so 100kg in Thailand (cost £32k) becomes £1M in the UK.

X30 markup!

[bkk6060]

He checked 5 bags how long was he here?  And, checking a bag in child's name is unusual.

Whatever, he remains in custody throw the book at him and find the kids a better Dad then this loser.

[Cereal]

Reasonably confident that the Thai authorities would have known about this and told the UK authorities. Better to let him leave the country and go home. Less hassle for all involved, except the idiot. 

 

100kgs of weed would stink regardless of packaging! 

[kwaussie]

What sort of a role model is he for his kids!

[Dogmatix]

The UK should legalise too and put an end to this type of crime. 

[anfh]

Possibly the dumbest smuggler in the entire world !!!

[lordgrinz]

1 minute ago, Dogmatix said:

The UK should legalise too and put an end to this type of crime. 

 

Wouldn't matter if you legalized it, or not, you still wouldn't be able to fill your luggage on your international flight with 100kgs of it.

[Foxx]

I wonder if this is the same Nathaniel Benson who was given a 17-month jail term for breaking into his ex-partner's home and biting her nose.

 

The name, age and location all seem to match.

https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/16309199.nathaniel-benson-39-given-17-month-jail-term-breaking-ex-partners-home-biting-nose/

 

If it is the same individual he also has a previous conviction for domestic violence, having been convicted of assaulting a long-term former partner by punching her to the head and back in 2014.

Sounds like a lovely guy.

[wombat]

2 hours ago, Xonax said:

Lucky for him, that Thai customs didn't arrest him, but chose to inform customs in UK instead.

He isn't committing a crime in Thailand.

[Scouse123]

59 minutes ago, Dont confuse me said:

I'm surprised it wasn't found when leaving thailand. Unless it was discovered and the Thai's gave the UK a heads up? 

 

 

 

I think that is a safe bet, with cannabis not being illegal here, they probably tipped off their British counterparts.

[Scouse123]

33 minutes ago, anfh said:

Possibly the dumbest smuggler in the entire world !!!

 

Which begs the question of how did he finance it?

 

He's obviously not the sharpest tool in the box, smuggling through major airports, with Cannabis having an unmistakable odor.

[Jenkins9039]

1 hour ago, Dont confuse me said:

I'm surprised it wasn't found when leaving thailand. Unless it was discovered and the Thai's gave the UK a heads up? 

 

Not Thailand's problem as legal here, but likely gave the heads up...

[Hellfire]

52 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Quick calculation, cannabis in Thailand sells for max 15kbht/kg, so 100kg in Thailand (cost £32k) becomes £1M in the UK.

X30 markup!

The fact is the smuggler would never get anything near that "street price".

[Jenkins9039]

2 minutes ago, Scouse123 said:

on of how did he finance it?

street value in the UK isn't street value in Thailand, that's roughly 1-2,000 THB a package there from what i've seen sold on FB.

 

A spliff in the UK is 400 THB