Smuggler checked in drug suitcase in child's name

A man who tried to smuggle cannabis worth £2m into the UK while travelling with his children has been jailed for more than two years.

Nathaniel Benson, 45, was arrested at Heathrow Airport after travelling from Thailand, with Border Force officers finding 150 packages in five suitcases.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said Benson, of Bramley, Leeds, checked in a case under one of his children's names.

At Isleworth Crown Court, he was jailed for two years and four months after admitting importing class B drugs.

More than 100kg of cannabis was recovered in total by officers at the airport on 18 September, with Benson, of Southend Avenue, later charged.

NCA senior investigating officer Mark Abbott said: "Earning money by acting as a drugs courier may seem appealing, but it is just not worth the risk.

"The organised criminals behind these attempts do not care about the fate of those they employ to smuggle cannabis as their primary concern is financial gain."

The NCA said the amount of cannabis seized in the UK so far in 2024 was three times more than during the whole of 2023.

It attributed the increase to gangs with access to cannabis grown overseas, in locations where it was legal, with couriers recruited to transport it to the UK.

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