British drugs mule, 24, avoids jail in Germany after being caught with 20kg of marijuana in her suitcase from Thailand
Cameron Bradford, 24, of Knebworth, Hertfordshire, was arrested at Munich Airport on April 22 after arriving from Bangkok when she attempted to collect her luggage.
Authorities had become suspicious after she allegedly changed her flight at the last minute, having originally been due to fly to London Heathrow via Singapore.
Her family had filed a missing person report after raising concerns when she did not return home as expected, but then learned the next day that she was in Germany.
The mother-of-one appeared at Munich District Court today which heard she had worked as an escort for a man in Britain who had threatened her, reported BBC News.
She was allegedly told to go to Thailand to pick up something for the man - and customs officials in Munich then found 20kg (about 45lb) of marijuana in her suitcase.
Miss Bradford, who has a young son, was arrested, held in custody and charged with attempted transit of cannabis and abetting the international trafficking of cannabis.
She claimed she did not know what was in the case, which was locked, but Judge Wilfried Dudek determined in court that the man had put her under pressure.
Miss Bradford's arrest is one of a series of cases involving suspected young British female drug mules stopped by police at airports in countries around the world.
Germany legalised cannabis for recreational use by adults in February 2024, but this did not extend to tourists - and the unauthorised import of the drug is illegal.
Thailand decriminalised cannabis in 2022, but in June brought in new rules which restrict the sale of the drug to those with a doctor's prescription.
A UK Border Force and Thai customs agreement called Operation Chaophraya which aims to reduce attempted cannabis smuggling was launched in July last year.
The Home Office said in April that the scheme was working after cannabis arrivals by post from Thailand dropped by 90 per cent in the first three months of 2025.
Parcels from Thailand must now be checked before they are shipped – and over 50 British nationals have been arrested in Thailand for attempted cannabis smuggling since the operation began.
Earlier this week, two young Brits were jailed for six years after being caught trying to smuggle nearly 150lbs of cannabis in their luggage from Thailand to Zimbabwe.
Tihaise Darlin Elisha, 19, and Taylor Tamara Simone, 21, were arrested at Robert Gabriel Mugabe Airport in Harare on May 1, after the pair arrived on a flight from Thailand.
Airport staff found their behaviour suspicious and carried out a search where they stumbled across the hidden stash of drugs.
Police discovered 53 packets containing a total of 146lbs of 'loose skunky' cannabis, also known locally as dagga, tucked away inside four monarch suitcases. The drugs were concealed inside the cases which had been tagged with the offenders' names.
The pair were seen in photographs standing and crouching sheepishly next to the cannabis-filled bags.
Elisha and Simone were found guilty of drug trafficking by the Harare Magistrates' Court, according to a statement on Monday from Zimbabwe's National Prosecuting Authority.
Each were sentenced to nine years in prison, with three years suspended on condition of good behaviour.
Separately, MailOnline revealed last month that a British mother was arrested in Mauritius accused of trying to smuggle cannabis inside her six-year-old son's suitcase.
British mother Natashia Artug, 35, was detained in Mauritius alongside seven other people accused of carrying more than 161 kilograms of the drug - worth £1.6 million - in their luggage
Natashia Artug, 35, of Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, was detained alongside seven other people accused of carrying more than 161kg of the drug - worth £1.6million - in their luggage.
The boy's luggage alone is said to have had 24 packages of drugs wrapped in clear cellophane inside weighing 14kg.
Campaign group Justice Abroad claimed Ms Artug is 'vulnerable' and was coerced into travelling to Mauritius by people involved in the drug trade who threatened her and her family, adding that she did not know the bags contained cannabis.
Miss Artug's partner Florian Lisman, a 38-year-old Romanian, was also arrested and said to be carrying 32 drug packages, an iPhone and £260.
The other Britons detained were Patrick Lee Wilsdon, 22, Lily Watson, 20, Shannon Ellen Josie Holness 29, Laura Amy Kappen 28, and Shona Campbell, 32, who each had between 30 and 32 packages, according to local newspaper Le Mauricien.
They were all on the same British Airways flight from London Gatwick to Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam airport in June. The suspects have all been charged with drug trafficking and remain in custody.
A series of other cases in recent months have seen Brits arrested abroad for alleged drug smuggling.
One of the most high profile involves 18-year-old Bella Culley, from Billingham in County Durham, who was arrested in Georgia in May after allegedly carrying 12kg of cannabis and 2kg of hashish into the country from Thailand, where she had been on holiday.
In June her trial was postponed immediately after it began due to issues concerning evidence.
She could face up to 15 years in jail if convicted, and her trial is due to take place in September.
Another case in May saw 21-year-old Charlotte Lee May, from Coulsdon in South London locked up in a Sri Lankan prison after police allegedly discovered 46kg of 'Kush' - a synthetic strain of cannabis - in her suitcase when she arrived on a flight from Thailand.
The former cabin crew member for Tui was placed in handcuffs after £1.15million worth of cannabis was allegedly found in her luggage – and could face up to 25 years in prison if found guilty.
OnlyFans model Clara Wilson, 36, from Huthwaite, Nottinghamshire, allegedly tried to smuggle around £200,000 of Thai cannabis into Spain - with more than 34kg of cannabis found in her suitcases at Barcelona's El Prat Airport.
British beautician Kimberly Hall, 29, from Middlesbrough, is in custody in the US after being accused of attempting to smuggle $6.2million of cocaine from Chicago O' Hare Airport to the UK, having come off a flight from Cancun in Mexico.
Robert Brown, 41, from Newcastle, was arrested in Cambodia in June after allegedly attempting to smuggle nearly 20kg of marijuana into the UK - just hours after he was reported missing by his girlfriend.
Police found 22 packages of cannabis weighing nearly 20kg hidden inside his luggage at Phnom Penh Airport. The drugs, which police believe originated in Thailand, are thought to have a street value of around £200,000.
Brown has been charged with the use, possession, trafficking and transport of drugs and could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
And 79-year-old William 'Billy Boy' Eastment, a bowls-loving pensioner from Somerset, faces dying in prison after he was allegedly intercepted at Santiago Airport in Chile with £200,000 worth of meth.
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