UK'S DRUG MULE ALERT

Brits are lured into trafficking with luxury hols, booze and cash, Crime agency chief warns penalty could be years in hell prison

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NAIVE Brits are being lured into becoming drug mules with offers of free luxury holidays, bottomless booze and bundles of cash.

Growing numbers of teenage travellers desperate for a taste of the glamorous lifestyles they see flaunted on social media are being targeted by manipulative kingpins.

And too many are blind to the risks, including life in hellhole prisons or even death sentences, warns a boss at the National Crime Agency.

The Mirror can reveal today hundreds of smugglers have been snared at our airports this year - with Thailand's "wild weed west" fuelling the epidemic.

Stark figures show at least 800 smugglers were caught up to mid-November - an average of two mules every day.

It is significantly more than all of 2024, when 750 smugglers were nabbed.

Around 640 of those arrested were travelling from Thailand where a relaxation of drug laws has sparked a boom in cannabis production.

As many of us begin to dream of escaping Britain for a place in the sun, Beki Wright, head of the NCA's Borders Threat Team, issued the stark warning: "Don't risk your life for a free holiday."

DISRUPT

She told the Mirror: "Couriers risk a potentially life-changing conviction and prison sentence, and we continue to target them as part of our ongoing efforts to break the supply chain.

"Anyone who is tempted by a quick pay day or free holiday in return for smuggling drugs, such as cannabis, the risks are huge and the chance of getting caught is very high.