A financially vulnerable 19-year-old British woman, Erihanna Sackor, has been sentenced to 15 months in prison after arriving at Heathrow Airport on 2 June with 14 kg of vacuum-sealed cannabis concealed in her suitcase. The court heard how she was lured to Thailand with an all-expenses paid trip and promised £20,000 to smuggle the Class B drug into the UK.

Sackor, a hospitality worker who had been living in a YMCA hostel and was in rent arrears, initially claimed the luggage did not belong to her, yet prosecutors noted the suitcase and passport “matched her name”. The prosecutor explained that her flights and accommodation in Southeast Asia were fully covered, and she was also given about £200 in spending money during the trip. However, the 19-year-old insisted that her reason for travelling to Thailand was because her father lived nearby.

She told authorities she visited Thailand where a “ginger man” in a nightclub “took the money off me and never gave it back”. Sackor said she had been threatened with “sexual innuendos” and shown “very unpleasant images” of what might happen if she failed to deliver the drugs.

Her defence lawyer, Jo Morris, described Sackor as having been exploited while in a vulnerable position, noting she had attended a behaviour correction school, endured housing instability and was influenced under pressure when she reached Thailand.

Defence lawyer Morris said:

"This is a person who was involved through pressure when she got to Thailand. She has a fairly deprived background. She attended a behaviour correction school which is known to social care services. She was in the care of her mother who struggled with her own mental health."

She continued:

"She was evicted from a YMCA hostel because she owed rent arrears which does not suggest she had the most stable background. Her vulnerability was exploited."

However, Ms Recorder Amanda Pinto KC, the prosecutor, emphasised that Sackor was a “knowing and willing participant”, aware of the enterprise’s scale and motivated by the expectation of £20,000, describing her as the kind of vulnerable person these gangs exploit.

Ms Recorder Amanda Pinto KC addressed the teen saying:

"You deliberately went out to Thailand to smuggle drugs back to this country. You did it because you expected to get £20,000 which is a very significant amount of money for someone in your position. you were a knowing and willing participant in this scheme. You became part of an organised criminal group."

"You had no influence on those high up the chain, but you did have some awareness of the scale of the operation. You are exactly the sort of vulnerable person that these gangs often exploit."

The judge considered a suspended sentence but decided against it given Sackor’s involvement and uncertain support upon release. In addition to a 15 month jail sentence, Sackor was also ordered to pay a £187 victim surcharge.