FREE paradise holidays, unlimited booze and a cash payout – an offer that would likely turn the heads of most naive teenagers.
But combine that with sickening threats and devious tactics from drug gangs, and impressionable young Brits are suddenly finding themselves behind bars thousands of miles from home.
The cases of drug mule Bella Culley, 19, and trafficking suspect Charlotte Lee, 21, have ramped up fears that gangs have launched unprecedented recruitment drives in search of even bigger profits.
And experts believe the twin arrests within hours of each other, back in May this year, could herald a future flood – leaving parents across the UK facing their worst nightmares.
Gangs run by British criminals based in Thailand have for years relied on postal deliveries of drug stashes from the Far East.
But, rocked by a crackdown, they are now tempting potential mules with free luxury holidays, bottomless booze, drugs and a £2,000 payout if they agree to carry their illicit wares back home.
Kingpins based in hotspots such as Thailand’s Koh Samui are offering bigger rewards than ever to vulnerable and impressionable youngsters after profit margins rocketed.
Since cannabis was legalised in Thailand in 2018, it has become so cheap on the streets that gangs who export to the UK can make an astonishing 3,000 per cent mark-up.
British and Thai authorities joined forces to launch the Operation Chaophraya anti-mule drive last summer and have been stunned by the scale of the recruitment campaign.
An incredible 800 people – including 50 Britons – have been held in Thailand for alleged drug smuggling since last July, with more than nine tons of cannabis seized.
In March, a series of arrests at Koh Samui Airport exposed a sophisticated cannabis smuggling operation using mostly British tourists to ferry suitcases of narcotics.
Within four days, immigration police arrested 13 foreign nationals attempting to smuggle £1.7 million to the UK – where it would have been peddled for far higher prices.
Investigators have revealed Thai gangs are now routinely attempting to confuse border officials by using fresh-faced Brits who fly to other countries before carrying drugs back home.
Teenage travellers of the Instagram generation are being dazzled by the faux glamour of the luxury lifestyle offered by manipulative gangsters.
And too many are blind to the enormous, potentially life-changing risks they are taking, law enforcement chiefs say.
Banged up abroad
Bubbly backpacker Bella jetted off for fun in the sun, then left her family frantic with worry when she went missing in Thailand in May.
But there was little celebration when she was found 4,000 miles away from the Thai capital in a court in the ex-Soviet state of Georgia, accused of attempting to smuggle cannabis worth £200,000.
Bella, of Billingham, County Durham, faced a sentence of up to life in prison.
She went on to tearfully tell the court that she was having a baby after falling pregnant before she was arrested.
Her family said she flew to the Far East on holiday to meet a mystery man – believed to be the baby’s father – called “Ross or Russ”.
He introduced her to Brits from the north west of England suspected of running drug mules from Thailand.
The naive teenager joked online with the mystery man of “Bonnie and Clyde” hijinks in the Far East while showing off cash wads, and was pictured smoking a spliff.
After seeing Bella for the first time face-to-face, celebrity lawyer Mariam Kublashvili – a former contestant of Georgia’s Strictly Come Dancing – came out convinced she is a “victim” who was manipulated.
Inside the dark world of Brit ‘drug mules’
A SLEW of drug mule arrests involving Brits have emerged in the last 12 months.
In April and May, two Brit women were arrested abroad for alleged drug smuggling.
Bella was the first after she allegedly tried to smuggle a suitcase of cannabis into Georgia.
Meanwhile, former air stewardess Charlotte May Lee was also caught allegedly trying to smuggle drugs worth £1.2million into Sri Lanka.
Her two suitcases were said to have been stuffed with 46kg of a synthetic cannabis strain known as kush — which is 25 times more potent than opioid fentanyl.
If found guilty, South Londoner Charlotte could face a 25-year sentence.
A young mum was detained in Germany for allegedly smuggling cannabis in her bags on a flight from Thailand – in yet another shocking case.
Glamorous Cameron Bradford, 21, from Knebworth, Herts, was detained at Munich Airport on April 21 as she tried to collect her luggage.
It comes as a Brit couple claiming to be tourists from Thailand have been busted with more than 33kg of cannabis in their suitcases at a Spanish airport.
The pair were picked out by suspicious cops at Valencia Airport after displaying a “nervous and evasive attitude” and are now behind bars on drug trafficking charges.
Experts told The Sun how wannabe Brit Insta stars are being lured by cruel gangs into carting drugs across the world.
Then last month, a six-year-old British boy was arrested in Mauritius suspected of smuggling part of a £1.6million dope haul stuffed inside his wheelie case.
The lad was picked up by customs officials along with his mum and five other Brits as they arrived on the tropical island.
Authorities branded the use of a child in the audacious drug smuggling plot as “inhumane”.
Bella has spent the last six months behind bars in the hellhole Penitentiary No 5 near Tbilisi
She faced life in jail after pleading guilty to the smuggling charges, with the haunting prospect of giving birth in prison just before Christmas.
Despite her plea, she claimed she was forced into being a mule, telling the court a gang in Bangkok threatened to kill her family if she didn’t do as she was told.
The pregnant teen also claimed they burned her with a hot iron and forced her to watch beheading videos.
Bella was stunned when a judge hit her with an 18-month prison sentence last week after her family fell agonisingly short of paying a £215k fine that would have freed her.
But in a sensational U-turn yesterday, a new plea bargain was struck.
The drastic turnaround saw Bella walk free on Monday, and she is set to return to the UK within days with her jubilant mum, Lyanne Kennedy.
Evidence has already emerged that a major mule recruitment drive is underway
UK-based source
While Bella has been let off the hook, another pretty British trafficking suspect arrested with £1.2 million of synthetic drug kush in Sri Lanka is waiting to learn her fate.
Bella’s flight to Georgia took off from the same Bangkok airport within hours of former air stewardess Charlotte May Lee.
The 21-year-old is being held in a gruesome Sri Lankan jail cell awaiting her verdict.
If found guilty, South Londoner Charlotte could face a 25-year sentence.
Despite Bella being freed, her story serves as a warning to all young British travellers looking for adventures in the Far East.
Every young Brit abroad in holiday hotspots should take heed and be wary of strangers offering gifts – and promises of free fun that seem too good to be true.
A crime source based in the UK with knowledge of the growing threat told The Sun: “Evidence has already emerged that a major mule recruitment drive is underway.
“Young people from the UK are being targeted with the aim of reaching the UK after stopping off at European destinations en route to cover their tracks.
“And they are being offered more tempting rewards than ever as the gangs target bigger profits.
“We can’t stop backpackers travelling and having fun but they should be careful who they talk to and never carry bags or packages onto planes for anyone.
“No matter how much they’re offered – it won’t be worth spending 20 years regretting it in a hellhole prison.”
Why Brit backpackers are prime targets, Thai cop reveals
By Patrick Harrington, Foreign News Reporter
POLCIE Lieutenant Colonel Arun Musikim, Deputy Inspector of the Surat Thani province police force, said: “Cases involving British nationals smuggling cannabis have been around for a while.
“Initially most incidents happened at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. But as arrests increased, the security tightened inspections, making it harder for smugglers to operate.
“So they began looking for smaller airports with international flights, which is why they started using Koh Samui, as it operates international flights while still being a very small airport.
“There are a lot of codeshare flights with major airlines that have international transfers in Bangkok where the suitcases are moved between planes and not checked. Then the flights go to the UK.
“Phuket is another airport with international flights to Europe but the airport is bigger and security is more advanced.
“There is a lot of cannabis grown on Thailand’s islands in the south because the climate is suitable and it is legal. A lot of gangs are attracted to this.
“There are now various smuggling methods that we have seen. Some carry it themselves, some hire backpackers, and some send it via mail.
“This year, there have been many cases we have intercepted. Most involve British and Malaysian nationals.
“It’s easy for British citizens to travel as they can enter Thailand and return to the UK without needing a visa.
“Most of the smugglers are people hired to carry the cannabis, similar to how tourists might smuggle tax-free goods.
“They’re usually unemployed individuals from the UK. The gangs offer them flights, pocket money and hotel stays, just to come and travel and take a bag back home with them.
“These people often have poor social standing at home and are looking for ways to earn quick money. They find them through friends or on social media.
“The average age is mostly young adults, though not all. There are men, women, and even people with disabilities, all posing as backpackers visiting Thailand for a holiday.
“Many will go to festivals or parties while they are here, just like they are having a normal trip abroad.
“Upon further investigation, we found that the gangs behind this are entirely based in the UK. The payment varies — some are paid to carry in exchange for clearing debts owed to these gangs.
“Wages differ. Some get £3,000 to £5,000, some only £2,000, and others just have flight tickets and some pocket money. Some accept the chance to have a holiday that is paid for.
“They are told that it is easy and they will not be caught. Then the amount the organisers can sell the cannabis for in the UK is much higher than it costs in Thailand.
“Police suspect that there are multiple employers and groups receiving the drugs on the other end. The cannabis then enters the UK market.
“To stop this network, immigration police have coordinated with customs, the Ministry of Public Health, and airport officials.
“In Surat Thani, several people have already been sentenced, some received four months, the longest was six months, depending on the court’s decision.
“Some confessed and carried small amounts and were sentenced to four months. Others who recruited, managed, or transported large amounts received six months.
“Currently, there are fewer cases on Koh Samui because of our strict enforcement. Tourists are now looking for other routes instead.
“We are being vigilant to ensure there are no routes out of the country.”
