Smuggler accepts most of his drugs mules 'will get caught'

Image caption, Zee says he is flooding the UK with cannabis grown overseas By Scott Hesketh North West Investigations Published 4 hours ago Drugs gangs are flooding the north of England with cheap cannabis grown overseas and sold to mimic slickly marketed, legal marijuana from the United States, a BBC investigation has learned. A thriving black market for "Cali weed" - high-potency strains originally cultivated in licensed dispensaries in California - has prompted an unprecedented wave of smuggling from dealers growing it in countries including Thailand. One dealer boasted he made massive profits importing cannabis and described how he sent drug couriers from Thailand to the UK, even though he knew "most will get caught". According to Home Office figures seen by the BBC, Border Force officials last year seized more than 167,000kg of herbal cannabis with an estimated street value of more than £2bn - the highest amount ever recorded and up 52% from 2024. The haul - equivalent to two fully loaded large passenger jets - included 28 tonnes of cannabis flown in suitcases by 800 couriers who were arrested by the National Crime Agency (NCA). Suppliers are running industrial-sized operations in parts of the world where laws governing the cultivation of cannabis have been relaxed - including Thailand, Canada and parts of the US - and illegally importing multiple-kilogram loads to the UK for "huge profits". The Class B drug is flown in by "mules", posted or shipped hidden in cargo and distributed to middle-level dealers who target young users on social media and encrypted apps with glossy "Cali packs" bearing names like "Gelato", "Cali Cookies" and "Runtz". The NCA told the BBC it had seen a huge increase in profit-seeking gangs bringing in marijuana from overseas by exploiting laws around its production. Health experts are linking "dangerous levels" of THC - the drug's psychoactive ingredient - with a rise in cases of psychosis. Psychiatrist Dr Marta di Forti, who led the UK's biggest study on cannabis and psychosis, said: "I'm very concerned about the potency of cannabis on the streets right now." Police sources said the north-west of England was the UK's principal distribution hub for both overseas and homegrown cannabis. Image caption, Vacuum-sealed packs of "Cali weed" worth millions of pounds were seized by Border Force officials in Greater Manchester Home Office figures show the region saw the highest number of police seizures outside London. Per head of population, the detection rate in Merseyside was higher than in any part of England or Wales in the year to March. The NCA said four out of five cannabis seizures at UK airports came from Thailand, where legalisation in 2022 prompted a free-wheeling market and strong interest from British drug syndicates. It had been hoped that attempts to tighten Thai laws by restricting cannabis to those with a doctor's prescription and banning the drug's recreational use would reduce the amount reaching the UK's