A British woman has pleaded guilty to smuggling £512,000 worth of cannabis from Thailand, after posting on Facebook about ‘cutting the grass’.

Amy Jayne Durban, 45, was arrested at Heathrow Airport on 6 July after arriving in the UK on a flight from Bangkok. Durban, of Hemyock, Devon, was found with two suitcases containing 51.2kg of cannabis.

Days before her arrest, Durban posted on Facebook: “On her way home to cut the grass if ya know what I mean. No ETA so you won’t know I’m about to hit your lawn.”

Following an appearance at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court back in July, Durban pleaded guilty to smuggling Class B drugs on Thursday, 6 August, at Isleworth Crown Court.

She is set to be sentenced on 14 October and has been remanded.

Last month, the National Crime Agency (NCA). announced a crackdown in Thailand alongside its partners in the country.

“Those caught trying to smuggle cannabis now face huge fines – around £680 per kg,” the NCA said. “The ‘average’ smuggler is caught in Thailand with 26kg – equalling a fine of £17,680. If it isn’t paid, the smuggler will go to jail for up to two years in Thailand.”

NCA senior investigating officer, Mark Abbott, said: “There are really bad outcomes at home and abroad when couriers are caught smuggling cannabis. As well as time in prison, a life-changing conviction will damage future career and travel prospects.

“People should understand that these crime groups use profits from cannabis smuggling to fund the trafficking of other drugs too. All of those drugs fuel wider crime in our communities and have a toxic effect on people’s lives.”

According to the NCA, 142 smugglers of cannabis were caught arriving by plane in the UK in 2023, soaring to 801 in 2024 and again in 2025 to 976.

It added: “Fuelled by demand in the UK, there has been an explosion in the number of drug couriers trying to smuggle cannabis into the country.

“They are usually approached on social media by organised crime groups who offer a ‘free’ holiday and spending money in exchange for taking cannabis home where other criminals will take the drugs from the courier and move them on.”

The agency said this year “is on track to be even worse with 600 air passenger couriers arrested at UK airports in the first six months alone.”