Leeds man flying from Bangkok faces drug smuggling charge after £1m worth of cannabis is found

A man from Leeds has been charged after five suitcases packed with one million pounds worth of cannabis were found at Heathrow Airport.

Nathaniel Benson, 45, was arrested on Wednesday, 18 September, by Border Force officers after 160 packages were found in the suitcases.

In total more than 100 kilos of cannabis was recovered, which would have had a street value of around £1 million if sold on the streets in the UK, the National Crime Agency said.

He appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates Court earlier today charged with importing class B drugs. A 41-year-old woman from Harrogate, who was travelling with him, was also arrested but later bailed.

In August the NCA issued a warning to travellers arriving into the UK from Thailand, Canada and the United States that they face jail sentences if caught attempting to bring cannabis into the country, after a huge upsurge in arrests. The amount of cannabis seized so far in 2024 is already over three times more than in the whole of 2023.