British Cannabis Smuggler Caught in Major Thai Airport Bust

[transam]

9 hours ago, MalcolmB said:

They would have paid off airport baggage handlers at the other end that would wave it through. 
A lot of us getting caught in Thailand but not so much at the other end.

Bit silly confessing your trade on here, isn't it..........

[Toby1947]

Supplied by the police and taken back by the police. And the merry go round goes on. 

[StandardIssue]

No doubt trying to get a jump on the new round of tariff wars about to ensue. 🤣

[FriscoKid]

18 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

This arrest forms part of a larger operation against illegal cannabis smuggling, culminating in the detention of 13 foreign nationals, including ten Britons.

The British are making fantastic strides in assembling their very own prison football team. Just one more inmate needed, and they’ll be ready for their debut match. Give it a week then surely another English cannabis smuggler will be caught, and they’ll have it sorted. Back in the day, only the Nigerian jailbirds in Thailand had enough players to form a full squad without recruiting from other nationalities. So it’s truly heartwarming to see the Brits finally stepping up to the challenge. Beckham will be proud!

 

[transam]

1 minute ago, FriscoKid said:

The British are making fantastic strides in assembling their very own prison football team. Just one more inmate needed, and they’ll be ready for their debut match. Give it a week then surely another English cannabis smuggler will be caught, and they’ll have it sorted. Back in the day, only the Nigerian jailbirds in Thailand had enough players to form a full squad without recruiting from other nationalities. So it’s truly heartwarming to see the Brits finally stepping up to the challenge. Beckham will be proud!

Doubt it............

[Andrew65]

4 minutes ago, FriscoKid said:

The British are making fantastic strides in assembling their very own prison football team. Just one more inmate needed, and they’ll be ready for their debut match. Give it a week then surely another English cannabis smuggler will be caught, and they’ll have it sorted. Back in the day, only the Nigerian jailbirds in Thailand had enough players to form a full squad without recruiting from other nationalities. So it’s truly heartwarming to see the Brits finally stepping up to the challenge. Beckham will be proud!

Many years ago a Nigerian Embassy official stated that there were 1,000 Nigerians in prison in Thailand.

[Kinok Farang]

3 hours ago, newbee2022 said:

Good bye. Send a photo when you're out of prison....

In ten years or later🤗

Your usual sympathetic post.

You must be a barrel of laughs to go out with.

[FriscoKid]

2 hours ago, nausea said:

A lot of these cases recently, I imagine it's something to do with the liberalisation of the cannabis laws here, makes getting hold of the stuff pretty easy, I guess it's just too much of a temptation, given the profits involved.

 

This has nothing to do with any law changes. You couldn’t always get your hands on the stuff as cheaply and easily and in such high quality and quantity, but now the price is ridiculously cheap and availability is unlimited. They can buy high-quality product here for about 5% of what it sells for in the UK, maybe even less. The profit potential is massive, and that greed seems to have completely overshadowed the risk in their minds of getting caught at either end. Common sense has gone straight out the window. But hindsight is always 20/20. Ask those guys before they got caught if they thought about the risks, and they probably barely considered it. Ask them now, staring down at least 10 years in a Thai prison, and I’m sure they’d have a very different answer.

 

Also, it wouldn’t be surprising if the very people who sold the smugglers the stuff were the ones who tipped off the authorities, probably in exchange for getting half of it back after the arrest, or at least being able to buy it back at a fraction of the original price. A win/win for everyone. The sellers and the police both cash in. The product itself isn’t illegal, only the international smuggling part. So one way or another, the weed is bound to end up back in circulation after they get caught.

. 

 

[transam]

Azeem, sounds like Indian or Arabic roots, but we all know that many different nationality roots are involved in drugs in the UK...........🤔

[jvs]

2 hours ago, cookie1974 said:

Splitting hairs, legalised/decriminalised same same but different as they say in Thailand, regardless of its legal status the fact remains that there are weed shops everywhere in all the tourist areas of Thailand,selling weed at very low prices compared to many European countries which has attracted criminal drug gangs from across the world, its no coincidence that the explosion in availability of  other street drugs ( cocaine in particular) has been particulary prevalent since the decriminilisation of cannabis, or is it just a coincidence?

Yes the USA is not Thailand.

[jvs]

This is what they can be looking at as punishment.

For Cannabis Under Category 5:

• From 2-15 years imprisonment and a fine of 200,000 – 1,500,000 Baht for production, importation or exportation
• From 2-10 years imprisonment or a fine of 40,000 – 200,000 Baht or both for disposal or possession for the purpose of disposal. If the quantity is over 10 kilograms, the penalty is increased to a maximum of 15 years and a fine of 200,000 – 1,500,000 Baht
• Imprisonment not exceeding 5 years and or a fine not exceeding 100,000 Baht or both for possession
• Imprisonment not exceeding 1 year and a fine of 100,000 – 1,000,000 for consumption

[J Branche]

Nothing to see here boys.  Just need 10 suitcases for all the shirts, shoes, and souvenirs I'm taking back

to a bunch of friends.   You know how fat westerners are so I can only fit a couple shirts in each suitcase.

 

 

 

 

[hotchilli]

Thailand happy to supply the drugs in bulk... without questions?

[Tropicalevo]

43 minutes ago, jvs said:

Yes the USA is not Thailand.

 

Well spotted.

It is a definition, not a USA thing, nor Thai.
Same same the world over in English.

Another site. There are loads. Take your pick.

 

https://differencess.com/difference-between-legalization-and-decriminalization/

[LivingNThailand]

20 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Poole's attempt to discreetly ship the luggage to Bangkok was intercepted by Thai police at Racha Pier, unveiling 165 kilograms of dried cannabis.

Where is Racha Pier?  If you google it, it comes up Racha Island near Phuket.  Very hard to travel by boat from Samui to Phuket.  

 

I knew someone that thought he could take a speed boat from Phuket to Samui, but I talked him out of it.  😅

[NorthernRyland]

As an aside, the reason it's important to keep bashing it into peoples minds that passport doesn't equal nationality is to maintain reputations and dignity whenever possible.

 

For example I'm an American, however in 2025 being American means virtually nothing anymore. An American could be of any race, have any religion, speak any language and even explicitly hate Americans or American traditions and the founding principles. Being American now is more like a membership card to a shopping center than anything else.

 

With that in mind I'm well aware that literally anyone from anywhere in the world could get an American passport while at the same time have zero similarities to me except maybe speaking some dialect of English and being familiar with some media or corporations.

 

When these Americans show up in Thailand and start causing trouble you're damn straight I'm going to call them out and remind everyone that these Americans are not the same as those other Americans.

 

This should be obvious to any expat living aboard but it's restating I guess since we always get pushback.

 

[PETERTHEEATER]

4 hours ago, wombat said:

A scratchy says he pays the fine and walks away.

I think that is the most likley outcome.If they can show prior offences then a custodial sentence is possible. Now, if that had been a gramme of a Class A drug..........

[Bert got kinky]

 

It occurs to me that the best way to stop these marijuana smugglers would be to legalize weed and peg the prices worldwide.

It would put these smugglers out of business immediately.

 

Now, if I can just get Donald on my side......

 

 

 

[jvs]

17 minutes ago, Bert got kinky said:

 

It occurs to me that the best way to stop these marijuana smugglers would be to legalize weed and peg the prices worldwide.

It would put these smugglers out of business immediately.

 

Now, if I can just get Donald on my side......

 

 

 

Would not work,Donald would just put tariffs on it!

[jvs]

43 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

As an aside, the reason it's important to keep bashing it into peoples minds that passport doesn't equal nationality is to maintain reputations and dignity whenever possible.

 

For example I'm an American, however in 2025 being American means virtually nothing anymore. An American could be of any race, have any religion, speak any language and even explicitly hate Americans or American traditions and the founding principles. Being American now is more like a membership card to a shopping center than anything else.

 

With that in mind I'm well aware that literally anyone from anywhere in the world could get an American passport while at the same time have zero similarities to me except maybe speaking some dialect of English and being familiar with some media or corporations.

 

When these Americans show up in Thailand and start causing trouble you're damn straight I'm going to call them out and remind everyone that these Americans are not the same as those other Americans.

 

This should be obvious to any expat living aboard but it's restating I guess since we always get pushback.

 

Another way to look at this would be to judge people not where they come from, what their skin color is or what they believe.

There are good and bad people any where you go.

I avoid people whose behaviour i do not like,i try to treat people with respect and in turn expect to be treated the same way.

I have traveled many countries and try to respect different cultures,if more people would do this there would be a lot fewer issues.

[transam]

1 hour ago, Bert got kinky said:

 

It occurs to me that the best way to stop these marijuana smugglers would be to legalize weed and peg the prices worldwide.

It would put these smugglers out of business immediately.

 

Now, if I can just get Donald on my side......

 

 

 

Donald is only on one side, his own, plus, he hasn't a clue about anything .......🤥

[Phil1964]

As Al Murray the pub landlord comedian would say, "Azeem. Now there's a good old British name. What do you do, son"?

 

Azeem, "I'm a narcotics expert".

 

Murray, "So you're a f****** drug dealer then, son"?

 

Lock him up and accomplices, then throw away the key. Oh and yeah, revoke any UK access and residency rights if ever released.

 

[wensiensheng]

How do they know he is a “leading” British cannabis smuggler? Is there some kind of league table tracking these things?

 

Sounds more like a newbie who thought he had stumbled on a sure fire supply of cheap cannabis that could be sold at a large mark up in Europe. I don’t think the big boys would have been so amateurish with their scheme. I mean, even the hotel staff noticed something odd and reported him!

[black tabby12345]

 

 

Thai officials have detained one of Britain's leading cannabis smugglers..

 

Had he been long marked by Thai police?

And have they busted any other "high profile" British  traffickers(not one-time carriers) in any past?

[black tabby12345]

17 minutes ago, wensiensheng said:

How do they know he is a “leading” British cannabis smuggler? Is there some kind of league table tracking these things?

 

LOL.

[Shocked farang]

If the controlled herb is cannabis-related (e.g., cannabis flowers or parts of the plant with THC levels exceeding legal limits), the penalties could fall under the Narcotics Act B.E. 2522 (1979) or its amendments. While cannabis was decriminalized for medical and research purposes in 2022, unauthorized exportation of controlled parts (like flowers) or extracts exceeding 0.2% THC could still be treated as a narcotics offense. Penalties under this framework vary based on the quantity and intent:

• For manufacturing, importing, or exporting narcotics (if the herb is classified as such due to THC content or lack of permits), penalties can include imprisonment ranging from 1 to 15 years and fines up to 1.5 million THB (around $45,000 USD).
• In severe cases involving large quantities or organized trafficking, penalties could escalate to life imprisonment or even the death penalty, though the latter is rare and typically reserved for major drug trafficking networks.

[black tabby12345]

4 hours ago, Andrew65 said:

Many years ago a Nigerian Embassy official stated that there were 1,000 Nigerians in prison in Thailand.

 

I have read there are 15000 foreigners(from 103 countries)  are behind bars in this kingdom.

And their numbers are 4-5% of the Thai prison population.

While Thai population is 70 millions or so, inmates numbers here, are the 6th largest in the world.

 

CUP6307-013F.ind

 

Department of Corrections (Thailand) - Wikipedia

[Kenny Boy]

Another North African/Arab muslim who lives in Britain.

He is not British.

 

[simon43]

8 hours ago, newbee2022 said:

Good bye. Send a photo when you're out of prison....

In ten years or later🤗

 

But it won't be anywhere near 10 years.  Cannabis is 'legal' in Thailand. Azeem is only charged under Thai law for exporting controlled herbs without permits.

[black tabby12345]

 

Another Check in at the BKK Hilton.

Fun is over, time to do Your Time...