The UK Home Office has cautioned young people against accepting offers of free holidays or luxury travel packages from organised crime groups that recruit unsuspecting travellers to smuggle drugs into the country.
The advisory, published on the Home Office website on July 17, 2026, was issued by Border Force ahead of the busy summer travel season following a significant increase in cannabis smuggling through UK airports.
According to the Home Office, criminal networks are increasingly targeting school leavers, university graduates, first-time travellers and young holidaymakers through social media platforms, offering them all-expenses-paid trips before persuading them to transport illegal drugs.
Official figures show that the number of cannabis couriers intercepted at UK airports upon arrival rose sharply from 142 in 2023 to 976 in 2025.
In the first half of 2026 alone, authorities arrested 600 passengers attempting to smuggle cannabis through UK airports. Men aged between 18 and 37 travelling from Thailand accounted for the largest group of those detained.
