'Free holiday' trap: 11 French nationals detained over Thailand drug haul
PARIS: At least eleven French nationals have been held in Thailand since the start of the summer after being arrested with several kilogrammes of cannabis in their luggage, a police source told AFP on Tuesday.
Eleven French nationals have been held in Thailand since the beginning of the summer after being arrested and found with large quantities of cannabis in their luggage, according to a police source speaking to AFP. The detained individuals, who range in age from 18 to 26, may have been tricked into becoming drug mules in exchange for a free holiday in Thailand, according to accounts from their relatives and a French newspaper, Liberation.
Thailand is a significant hub for illegal drug trafficking in Southeast Asia, and cannabis trafficking from Thailand to France has increased in recent years since the country decriminalized the drug in 2022, officials say. French authorities are closely monitoring the situation and working with French consular services in Thailand and Hong Kong.
The holiday offer, which allegedly came from a manager of a smartphone trading company, was reportedly unknown to the young people, who were arrested at airports in Thailand and Hong Kong. One woman, whose 20-year-old brother-in-law was arrested in mid-July, said he was contacted through Snapchat by someone claiming the courier run was "100 per cent legal" and involved transporting phones.
The French prosecutor's office tasked with combating drug crime is investigating the case, aiming to identify the organizers and potential networks involved, as well as how these operations recruit, look after, and involve other individuals.
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