A 19-year-old from Southampton has been jailed after being lured on Snapchat with the promise of a free holiday to Thailand and payment to smuggle cannabis into the UK. Noah Barker was recruited by a crime group, flew to Bangkok, and was arrested at Heathrow Airport on 10 July after arriving with suitcases containing nearly 20kg of cannabis worth an estimated £600,000, admitting to Border Force officers that he knew the bags held drugs. The case highlights a growing trend the National Crime Agency (NCA) says it is battling, in which young, often unemployed Britons are groomed via social media to act as drug mules.

Barker was sentenced to three years and eight months at Southampton Crown Court, made up of 16 months for the drugs offence and two years four months for a separate violent disorder conviction linked to the Henry Nowak protests in June. He never received the payment he was promised. The NCA said cannabis smuggling by air couriers has surged dramatically, from 142 caught in 2023 to 801 in 2024 and 976 in 2025, with 600 already arrested in the first half of this year alone. Thai authorities have introduced fines of £680 per kilogram for smugglers, with a two-year prison term for those unable to pay, as agencies work to deter recruitment via social media.