British man sentenced for smuggling cannabis from Thailand to Scotland

Zane Jamahl Hutton-Lewis, a 34-year-old British man from London, has been sentenced to twelve months in prison for attempting to smuggle 43.8 kilograms of cannabis from Thailand to Scotland. The drugs, discovered in his luggage by Border Force officials at Glasgow Airport, were valued at approximately £430,000.

The sentence was reduced from an initial eighteen months due to his guilty plea. The investigation was conducted by the Scottish Organised Crime Partnership, involving the National Crime Agency and Police Scotland.

Authorities have noted a significant surge in cannabis smuggling from Thailand to the United Kingdom. Arrests related to such activities rose from 142 in 2023 to 801 in 2024, with 976 suspected smugglers intercepted in 2025. In the first half of 2026 alone, approximately 600 passengers have been detained for suspected drug smuggling at British airports.