Epidemic of the selfie-loving drug smugglers: There’s been a 4,000 per cent rise in air passengers caught bringing cannabis into the UK – so why did this single mother walk free when found with £285,000 worth of the drug?

Poppie Kudiersky’s holiday to Thailand provided the perfect setting for social media material featuring the 22-year-old pouting in love-filled poses.

No photo opportunity is wasted whether you’re sitting on a jet ski, lounging by the pool, or lounging in a bikini on the bow of a traditional longboat.

But as is often the case in the modern world, the reality behind these carefully curated Instagram-ready images rarely matches the fantasy depicted.

And how true this turned out to be in the Kudiersky case.

After all, how was a single mother from Manchester living in social housing able to trade the gray skies of the North West for a two-week winter break in sun-kissed South East Asia?

The answer was to be found in two suitcases that he and his friend Mohammed Jacfer brought with them when they flew from Thailand to Manchester Airport in February 2024. They contained 28.5kg of cannabis with a street value of £285,000.

Arrested and charged with drug trafficking, Jacfer quickly confessed to the crime and was sentenced to two years in prison last year.

Kudiersky made no comments to the police, denied the charge and was due to appear at trial, but changed his plea significantly on the first day of the hearing.

Suitcase of cannabis seized at Heathrow – Nearly 27 tonnes of cannabis seized from smugglers flying into UK airports in 2024

The extraordinary circumstances he claimed led to his involvement in the drug scheme were also revealed at Manchester Crown Court.

He describes the events as follows: Kudiersky ‘reluctantly’ agreed with unknown individuals to travel to Thailand to take part in a scam in which he would return clothes purchased using stolen credit cards in exchange for a free holiday.

But when he was given two suitcases, he said he noticed there were no clothes inside and suspected something was wrong. Kudiersky claimed that he refused to transfer the cases, but later received threats against himself and his family.

These included a photograph of threatening figures outside the address where his mother’s five-year-old son was staying, and a warning that if she did not cooperate, the place would be burned down and her child killed.

Kudiersky was convicted on this basis, despite the prosecution making clear that ‘some aspects’ of his account of the incident were ‘entirely within the defendant’s knowledge’.

And in stark contrast to the treatment meted out to other defendants currently serving sentences, he was duly released from court with a two-year suspended prison sentence; something even the judge admitted was ‘highly unusual’.

Kudiersky’s age, ‘naivety’ and ‘fragility’ were among the issues taken into consideration.

Unsurprisingly, his lenient approach to crime has not gone unnoticed, with the result that drug traffickers caught in Thailand can still face the death penalty.

Kudiersky is enjoying her time in Thailand, posting a series of glamorous photos ahead of her arrest

He claimed he only carried the drugs because of threats to himself and his family

Back on social media, responses to the story were astonishing: ‘What a message this sends to other drug traffickers!’ – downright exasperated – ‘You can get away with anything these days. “This is a joke.”

Those who had the misfortune to cross paths with Kudiersky are equally unhappy. Far from being innocent abroad, it turned out that he had a previous criminal record for assault and marijuana possession.

And those living close to him in Denton, Greater Manchester, say his presence has long blighted their lives.

‘We knew he was a nightmare neighbour, but he wasn’t a serious criminal,’ said one 68-year-old resident. ‘It causes a lot of problems here; Noisy parties are held. But this is another dimension, this is serious drug trafficking.

‘We complained about him to the police and the municipality but he is still here. It’s devastating that it’s not locked.’

Kudiersky’s lack of remorse also seems obvious. Approaching a Daily Mail journalist in his modern, terraced house last week, Kudiersky replied when asked about his conviction: ‘What about it? It was two years ago now.’

He slammed the door in his face after the reporter said ‘take care of yourself’.

As a family friend observed: ‘Being arrested and dragged to court didn’t change Poppie. It continues to create mayhem. Most of the family wants nothing to do with him.

‘If anyone opposes him, he goes into crisis. Poppie does what she wants.’

Kudiersky walked free from court with a two-year suspended prison sentence

Recent activity on his Facebook page also suggests that Kudiersky is fairly unimpressed by his ordeal.

He reposted a third party comment in early December: ‘Never open the door to the police, if it’s important they’ll kick the door in.’

Following his sentencing, another Facebook user commented under the post: ‘Especially when you import big buds.’

Kudiersky responded to the references to marijuana ‘buds’ by accusing the man of being ‘melted’ and a ‘son of a bitch’, then deleted the comments.

Other posts on his account are about drugs. In July, while awaiting trial, a Facebook user named We Love The Herb reposted a photo featuring a photo of rapper Snoop Dogg adorned with medals. The headline read: ‘If smoking weed was an Olympic sport, I would.’

In February, a photo was reposted that read: ‘I can do without SEX. . . But that damn WEED is a whole different story.’

These are no doubt intended as humorous content, but the reality is that the UK faces an epidemic of drug traffickers like Kudiersky; This was mentioned at the sentencing hearing at Manchester Crown Court on December 18 last year.

Figures submitted to the court by the National Crime Agency show the number of airline passengers caught smuggling cannabis into the UK has increased by almost 4,000 per cent in the last three years.

In 2022 alone, 20 air passengers were arrested for trying to import cannabis into the UK. This number increased to 134 in 2023 and 745 in 2024.

Last year was even worse. Figures for mid-November show 800 couriers were arrested at UK airports. These included 530 arrests at Heathrow and 120 arrests at Manchester Airport, where Kudiersky and his accomplice were flying. 80 percent of those arrested like him were traveling from Thailand.

Posts on Kudiersky’s Facebook page show he is not ashamed of his ordeal

Mother described as ‘nightmare neighbour’ by those living next to her

The use of British citizens for drug trafficking is fueled by organized crime gangs who have access to cannabis grown overseas where it is legal, NCA experts say.

Marijuana will be decriminalized in Thailand in 2022, making it easier to obtain it cheaply. The gangs then hire couriers to transport the drugs to the UK; Here they can make more profit from growing the drugs themselves.

Many of those caught with the drugs reported being told by recruiters that they would only face a fine if caught.

However, the maximum penalty for importing cannabis in the UK is up to 14 years’ imprisonment.

The flow of illegal cannabis from Thailand has become such a problem that in February the NCA sent officers to Bangkok airport to stop the mules before they could board the plane. Within four weeks the team had stopped 65 couriers carrying two tonnes of cannabis, whose value the Home Office estimated at £6 million.

Paul Pantry, the NCA’s senior manager for border sensitivities, said the mules were recruited with the promise of ‘free holidays, big money or a combination of both’.

‘We went from not seeing anyone from Thailand to seeing hundreds of people coming from Thailand,’ he said. ‘A large proportion of them are young people – men, women, from all walks of life – but increasingly [they are] students who may see the promise of quick money [or a] free vacation. This kind of Instagrammable trip; ‘It’s a dazzling place.’

It is unclear exactly who was behind the conspiracy involving Kudiersky, but the incident came to light on February 2, 2024, when he and 26-year-old Dutch national Jacfer arrived at Manchester Airport on a flight from Thailand via Doha.

As Jacfer was about to leave the airport, he was stopped by a customs officer with two suitcases with luggage tags in the name of Kudiersky.

One of the bags was x-rayed and determined to contain 28.5 kg of marijuana. Jacfer was detained at the scene. Three days later, police arrested Kudiersky at his home address and seized a phone from him.

Prosecutor Philip Hall told the court: “There was a conversation on his phone with an unidentified person in which he admitted that the cases seized from Jacfer were in his name and that he was there for Jacfer when she suffered “tantrums” in his absence.”

‘This conversation became heated after it became clear that Jacfer had been arrested.

In another message, it is clear that the defendant was trying to get a free holiday. ‘Pictures on his phone show him taking full advantage of hotels and beaches and questioning how his mother financed the holiday.’

These photos, which are still on social media pages, include shots of her sunbathing and comments about how ‘blessed’ she is to have skin that tans easily.

Another has a thigh tattoo that reads: ‘Don’t count the days, count the days’.

Mr Hall continued in court: ‘The defendant then goes on to say that “they” turned on him and that he should run away with a case. He also says that he was told “something was going to happen” and that a threat was made to his family, which lends some credibility to his claim made on a defense basis.’

Kudiersky’s guilty plea was entered on the grounds that he participated in the conspiracy ‘as a result of pressure, coercion, intimidation and/or grooming and because he was naive and exploited’.

Addressing the exponential increase in drug trafficking cases brought before the court by the NCA, Judge Hilary Manley stated that Kudiersky would have been jailed had he committed the crime more recently.

‘It is very important for all people to understand that as these types of crimes are becoming much more common and widespread, people who allow themselves to become involved in drug importation in this way will face immediate deterrent prison sentences,’ he said.

‘The sentence I will give you today in this particular case is a highly unusual sentence.

‘If this crime had been committed in more recent months the sentence would have been immediate detention, regardless of frailty and youth.

‘I emphasize why I have taken a particularly exceptional course in my sentencing today, as the date at which the defendant committed the offense was early 2024 and the National Crime Agency has just begun to see a really rapid escalation since then.’

The judge also took into account the fact that Kudiersky had been on a 7pm to 7pm curfew while out on bail since his arrest in February 2024.

Due to the ‘exceptional circumstances’ of the case, the judge sentenced him to two years in prison, imposed a two-year suspension and ordered him to participate in 15 days of rehabilitation activity and 150 hours of unpaid work.

That means, if nothing else, Kudiersky will be spending this January in environments that are entirely less Instagram-worthy than the ones he enjoyed two years ago.