By The Straits Times | Created at 2026-08-11 18:51:54 | Updated at 2026-08-11 19:14:15
27 minutes ago
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 Aug 11.
According to accounts from relatives of some of the young people interviewed by AFP and the French daily Liberation, they might have been duped by traffickers to act as drug mules in exchange for free holidays in Thailand.
Thailand is a major hub for illegal drug trafficking in south-east Asia.
In recent years, cannabis trafficking from Thailand to France has surged, particularly since the south-east Asian country decriminalised the drug in 2022, officials say.
“The situation of our fellow citizens is being closely monitored by the relevant departments of the foreign ministry in Paris, which are in contact with their families,” a diplomatic source told AFP.
“Consular services in Thailand and Hong Kong have been mobilised,” the source added.
According to Liberation, the holiday offer allegedly came from the manager of a smartphone trading company.
According to relatives of some of the young people, the French nationals were unaware of the suitcases’ actual contents.
The daily identified at least five young people aged 18 to 26 who were arrested at airports in Thailand and Hong Kong.
AFP spoke to a woman whose 20-year-old brother-in-law was arrested in mid-July as he was preparing to travel from Thailand to Paris with another Frenchman.
In their locked suitcase, for which they did not have the combination, customs officers discovered “16.8 kilogrammes of cannabis”.
“They were shocked. They really weren’t expecting it,” the woman said.
She said he was contacted through Snapchat by someone who claimed the courier run was “100 per cent legal” and involved transporting phones.
“Everything was covered: flights, accommodation on site,” she said. “So he took it seriously.”
“He was the victim of a ‘Thailand plan’. He was snared,” she added.
The French prosecutor’s office tasked with combating drug crime said investigations were under way.
“Our objective is to identify the organisers and potential networks involved, and to understand how these operations work: how these young people are recruited, looked after, whether other individuals are involved, and so on,” the prosecutor’s office said.
In a report published in 2025, the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) expressed concern about an increase in cannabis seizures originating from Thailand. AFP
