43 minutes ago, kingstonkid said:

No, what I think is that the Thais had a suspicion or knew, but decided that it was just as easy to let Turkey handle the court cases and all the bad PR from the British newspapers. If youtake a look at some of the immigration of other countries you see that they soetimes have a name seat and description.

Remember taking Canibis out of the country is a slap on the wrist. Smuggling it through is a different story.

I doubt Turkey will be suffering any bad PR in the British press , If the Thais knew they would have intercepted it , Tens of thousands of suitcases pass through the airport daily, even when disregarding corruption , it's not that surprising that some containing contraband get through.

At 21 going into a Turkish jail for 10 years?

God help him!

54 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

No, some never take heed no matter what they see and hear. hence the results.

it is to be hoped that nobody takes heed of "reefer madness" and its laughable that anybody ever did

Thailand must let them get through so they have less paperwork to do and just tip of the next country they planned to stop in.

Weed is legal in Thailand. What would they arrest them for? Possession of a legal substance?

Frankly, I'm surprised Turkey didn't just let them pass through to be banged up "back home". Unless they planned to leave the airport or give the weed to someone else during their layover. (Though I'm told on another similar thread that Turkish prisoners have to pay for their care. Maybe it's a profit center?)

7 hours ago, fredwiggy said:

Watching Brokedown Palace should be enough of a teacher to stop people from attempting these things.

There should be no need to watch anything really , what happened to good old fashioned "common sense"

4 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

There should be no need to watch anything really , what happened to good old fashioned "common sense"

Many don't or never will have it.

2 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

Many don't or never will have it.

Good point, I always thought it was akin to an instinct , something people were born with , I guess it must have been bred out of some, or is the woke education system responsible ? I mean telling people that men can be women and other such rubbish can't be helping matters

7 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

Forced...............Bwahahahahahaha.

How long till a gofundme pops up?

The family already set it up when they were first arrested.

6 hours ago, redwood1 said:

Talk about taking snow to Eskimos....Turkey already has plenty of weed..

He was taking weed to the UK, not to Turkey.

8 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

Johnson told the court he had been forced into transporting the suitcase and claimed he was unaware it contained drugs. Speaking through an interpreter, he said a man who had obtained his details following a car accident threatened him and his family, demanded GBP3,000, and instructed him to travel to Thailand to collect what he believed was a specially designed suitcase.

Questions on check-in:

- Are you carrying anything for anyone else ?

- Did you pack your own suitcase ?

I find it incredibly difficult to believe this young man had no idea he was carrying anything 'illegal' (drugs).

I do find it feasible that he and / or his family may have been threatened by a 'gang' (such as CountyLines etc in the UK) - and that he was naieve and frightened enough to carry out their requests instread of seek help from authorities.

If true - this perhaps highlights the underlying lack of trust youngsters have in authorities in the UK these days - he (the young lad) could have approached authorities upon his departure from the UK - informing them of the threats to himself and his family.

5 hours ago, Smokey and the Bandit said:

Yes I have heard of this happening.

Surely though these gangs don't just turn up at a strangers house and demand they carry contraband, there must be more to it?

I think it’s indicative of the sort of circles you must move in in the UK.

My assumption is that you have to have a lifestyle that brings you into contact with that kind of person ( a drug distributor) in order for them to think that they can threaten dire consequences if you don’t do what they say. I doubt they target random folks off the street.

4 minutes ago, wensiensheng said:

5 hours ago, Smokey and the Bandit said:

Yes I have heard of this happening.

Surely though these gangs don't just turn up at a strangers house and demand they carry contraband, there must be more to it?

I think it’s indicative of the sort of circles you must move in in the UK.

My assumption is that you have to have a lifestyle that brings you into contact with that kind of person ( a drug distributor) in order for them to think that they can threaten dire consequences if you don’t do what they say. I doubt they target random folks off the street.

I think that's a little unfair.

I live overseas and wouldn't have the faintest idea where to start looking for cannabis in the UK. Neither would most of my family. That doesn't mean we're unaware of the risks posed by organised criminal networks.

The term "County Lines" is widely known across the UK precisely because these gangs do not operate solely within criminal circles. Their business model often relies on targeting vulnerable young people, grooming them, exploiting them, and using them to distribute drugs.

Safeguarding guidance repeatedly highlights how gangs can befriend children, provide phones, gifts or money, then use debt, intimidation, blackmail and threats to gain control.

The concern isn't the circles we move in. It's that these networks move through communities, schools and social groups that most people would consider entirely ordinary and safe.

For most families, that parallel world remains invisible - until the day it isn't.

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

He was taking weed to the UK, not to Turkey.

The uk isn't exactly short of weed either

2 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

I think that's a little unfair.

I live overseas and wouldn't have the faintest idea where to start looking for cannabis in the UK. Neither would most of my family. That doesn't mean we're unaware of the risks posed by organised criminal networks.

The term "County Lines" is widely known across the UK precisely because these gangs do not operate solely within criminal circles. Their business model often relies on targeting vulnerable young people, grooming them, exploiting them, and using them to distribute drugs.

Safeguarding guidance repeatedly highlights how gangs can befriend children, provide phones, gifts or money, then use debt, intimidation, blackmail and threats to gain control.

The concern isn't the circles we move in. It's that these networks move through communities, schools and social groups that most people would consider entirely ordinary and safe.

For most families, that parallel world remains invisible - until the day it isn't.

2 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

I think that's a little unfair.

I live overseas and wouldn't have the faintest idea where to start looking for cannabis in the UK. Neither would most of my family. That doesn't mean we're unaware of the risks posed by organised criminal networks.

The term "County Lines" is widely known across the UK precisely because these gangs do not operate solely within criminal circles. Their business model often relies on targeting vulnerable young people, grooming them, exploiting them, and using them to distribute drugs.

Safeguarding guidance repeatedly highlights how gangs can befriend children, provide phones, gifts or money, then use debt, intimidation, blackmail and threats to gain control.

The concern isn't the circles we move in. It's that these networks move through communities, schools and social groups that most people would consider entirely ordinary and safe.

For most families, that parallel world remains invisible - until the day it isn't.

2 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

I think that's a little unfair.

I live overseas and wouldn't have the faintest idea where to start looking for cannabis in the UK. Neither would most of my family. That doesn't mean we're unaware of the risks posed by organised criminal networks.

The term "County Lines" is widely known across the UK precisely because these gangs do not operate solely within criminal circles. Their business model often relies on targeting vulnerable young people, grooming them, exploiting them, and using them to distribute drugs.

Safeguarding guidance repeatedly highlights how gangs can befriend children, provide phones, gifts or money, then use debt, intimidation, blackmail and threats to gain control.

The concern isn't the circles we move in. It's that these networks move through communities, schools and social groups that most people would consider entirely ordinary and safe.

For most families, that parallel world remains invisible - until the day it isn't.

I really have no experience of these kinds of thing. I haven’t lived in the UK for 50 years.

I can understand that school kids would be vulnerable to grooming. This guy is 21 years old, which isn’t old, but I would have thought old enough to resist grooming. My assumption, always a dangerous thing to do, is that he met some guys in a pub, was maybe into smoking some cannabis now and then, one thing led to another.

When I say moving in those circles, I didn’t really mean that he was part of an organized drug ring, more that maybe he was sourcing some cannabis to smoke now and then and as a result had some contact with people dealing drugs.

Despite what you say, I’m still skeptical that this was a random guy chosen off the street to act as a drug mule. There must have been a reason why he was targeted.

Whether there was actually a threat or whether he was excited to get a free holiday and some spare cash, I have no idea

3 hours ago, Ebumbu said:

You cannot fit 280,000 GBP of cannabis flower into a suitcase. Pricing in Thailand is like 150 baht a gram for decent sensimilla. You would wind up with about 180 pounds of weight in a suitcase.

Pricing in Thailand is actually "like" considerably lower than that, With the economy of scale it should be less than 1bt per gram if buying as much as 19 kilos

so 280,000x 40 =11, 200,000 baht or grams thats 11.2 tonnes

7 hours ago, ronnie50 said:

Yes, but why does the photo show (presumably the couple) retrieving a suitcase at IST airport? Wouldn't it be checked straight through to UK? Separate tickets? if so, then that's even riskier isn't it?

It's explained here. Customs officers boarded their plane at Istanbul, took them off and asked them to retrieve their luggage from the carousel.

They actually look like decent people, I was expecting them to be a couple of chavs. He doesn't look like the typical scummy opportunist, so maybe he was forced to do it 🤷‍♂️

I doubt we'll ever know the truth because he'll either be too scared to grass up the gang behind it, or he's lying and will never admit it.

1 hour ago, Bday Prang said:

Pricing in Thailand is actually "like" considerably lower than that, With the economy of scale it should be less than 1bt per gram if buying as much as 19 kilos

so 280,000x 40 =11, 200,000 baht or grams thats 11.2 tonnes

The suitcase was like Thor's hammer.

There is a positive (HIV Testing) side to this story, at least he wont suffer from constipation in his old age, ASSuming he gets there!🤔☠️🥺

Seems to be the standard coercion BS story coming out from couriers these days.

I strongly suspect he knew it was Cannabis. He would be even more foolish to carry shrink wrapped packages without knowing the contents, as it could have been Cocaine which would have been a whole lot worse for him.

Oh, No....!!!

Not again...!!!

Is this the sequel?

"A family friend said the couple were “good kids” and suggested Johnson may have been manipulated by a trafficking gang"

😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😁

14 hours ago, Nemises said:

19kg of vacuum-sealed bags and he claims he had no idea? Absolutely zero chance the Turkish courts buy that story. He’s incredibly lucky if he only gets the 10-year minimum.

"Personal usage honest guv"

Or "wow I thought that bag was heavy"

16 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Or the rather old now 'Midnight Express'.

16 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Or the rather old now 'Midnight Express'.

16 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Or the rather old now 'Midnight Express'.

For some reason can only remember one scene in that, show me.....

12 hours ago, Dexxter said:

“I apologise. Had I known that the suitcase contained drugs, I would never have done such a thing.”

Who in their right mind carries luggage that they did not pack themselves? Of course he knew he was carrying drugs.

much more people than you think don't pack their bags. For example my GF always pack s my bags because I hate it.

He's got no chance of expecting a Turkish court to believe this pile of camel dung.

11 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Questions on check-in:

- Are you carrying anything for anyone else ?

- Did you pack your own suitcase ?

I find it incredibly difficult to believe this young man had no idea he was carrying anything 'illegal' (drugs).

I do find it feasible that he and / or his family may have been threatened by a 'gang' (such as CountyLines etc in the UK) - and that he was naieve and frightened enough to carry out their requests instread of seek help from authorities.

If true - this perhaps highlights the underlying lack of trust youngsters have in authorities in the UK these days - he (the young lad) could have approached authorities upon his departure from the UK - informing them of the threats to himself and his family.

In my view, it's a pack of lies; he's late to the party and not the sharpest tool in the box.

He's gone for the easy money and free holiday. That's what he's done.

All this codswallop about threatening families is just pure fantasy and something to say, hoping the courts will buy into it; they won't.

2 hours ago, vangrop said:

much more people than you think don't pack their bags. For example my GF always pack s my bags because I hate it.

My other half packs my bags in Thailand, or my son in the UK, when I am returning to Thailand because I hate it.

However, I am usually in the room or hovering about.

However, I am well aware that I am responsible for the contents of those bags.

22 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

Johnson remains in custody at Maltepe Prison, where he is housed with other British inmates

So there are enough British criminals that they've got their own cell block? All good white boys who were manipulated/coerced by evil Asians, no doubt.

Time to end visa free travel to Thailand for Brits and make all of them submit a criminal record search before being granted a visa. This will rankle many and I expect a flurry of downvotes from indignant Brits, but how can one argue against ending visa free travel? They did it to Indians who don't commit a tithe of the problems Brits do.

Oh they are good kids....., 😂 555