Keira Borrett was stopped with suitcases full of herbal cannabis after attempting to pass through customs at Heathrow.

The 46-year-old was arrested on May 23 after arriving back in the UK from Bangkok, travelling via the United Arab Emirates, on what was purported to be a birthday celebration trip to Thailand.

Border Force x-ray scan that discovered cannabis worth £800,000 in two suitcases (Image: NCA)

A luggage check saw Border Force officers find vacuum-sealed parcels of herbal cannabis - estimated to be worth £800,000 - packed into two suitcases. 

Borrett, of Lowestoft Road in Gorleston, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the fraudulent evasion of a prohibition on the importation of a class B drug.

READ MORE: Smuggler from Gorleston caught with cannabis at Heathrow

Isleworth Crown Court was told the smuggler, who is male, identified as a woman and had agreed to transport the cases into the UK in exchange for £10,000 in the hope of using it to finance transition surgery. 

The court was told Keira Borrett identifies as a transgender woman (Image: Facebook)

Sahra Ali, prosecuting, said during an interview officers had been told a chance meeting in a Bangkok bar with a man from Essex had seen “conversation turn to sex-change operations and how expensive they were”.

The man offered to introduce Borrett to two other men who asked the defendant to take two cases on the return journey back to the UK.

Shortly before the flight, two "very heavy” bags were dropped off by men in an SUV.

These were then checked in as luggage under Borrett’s name.

Once back in the UK the instructions were to take the bags to a hotel and exchange them for the agreed payment of £10,000, said Ms Ali.

Ms Ali - referring to Borrett using female pronouns - added: “She was not under any duress, she did this willingly. There was an expectation of significant financial advance.”

READ MORE: Norfolk smuggler flew back from Thailand with drugs

Borrett appeared to be sentenced via video link from HMP Wormwood Scrubs - a male prison where the smuggler has spent the last three months on remand. 

Sebastian Cox, mitigating, said that being housed in a male prison had affected Borrett's “entire identity”.

Mr Cox claimed it had forced the defendant to “detransition”, dropping pronouns and having to wear male clothing. 

Keira Borrett had spent three months on remand in the male prison at Wormwood Scrubs (Image: Facebook)

Borrett had been forced to ‘retransition’ in HMP Wormwood Scrubs (Image: PA) Urging the judge to suspend any prison sentence, Mr Cox added: “Every day in prison has been harder for her given her identity.”

At one point he interrupted Ms Ali as she addressed the court and referred to Borrett using a male pronoun, to say: “Miss Borrett identifies as a woman and I’d be grateful if you could address her as such.”

He said agreeing to take the suitcases had shown a “lack of judgement” but was “out of character" and an “isolated incident”. 

“The offer of money and knowing what it could have done for her life. She made a very silly decision,” he added. 

“She is remorseful in the extreme knowing the impact this has had on her family and friends.”

Sealed packages of herbal cannabis were discovered hidden in the suitcases (Image: NCA) Borrett claimed not to have known what was inside the 'very heavy' luggage (Image: NCA)

The court was told the discovery of the huge drugs haul had come on a second trip to Thailand in just a few months.

Sentencing Borrett to 18 months in prison, Recorder Kate Aubrey-Johnson said: “Although you say it was an impulsive decision, the fact that you had travelled to Thailand before makes me wonder how much credibility I can give to that.”

She said that Borrett's claims not to know what was in the suitcases and not having checked stretched credulity.

“You didn’t ask the question but you must have known they contained something,” she added.

In deciding not to suspend the prison sentence she said she had taken into account the “additional issues” faced while on remand as a result of the Home Office decision that it must be served in a male prison.

Keira Borrett was sentenced to 18 months to be served in a male prison (Image: Facebook)

The judge at Isleworth Crown Court said she had taken into account ‘additional issues’ faced in prison (Image: Newsquest) “You have strong mitigation,” she told Borrett, but added courts had a duty to send a “strong deterrent” message to those who might get involved in smuggling. 

“This is an offence that is prevalent,” she added.

“We know that criminals target individuals to act as couriers. As cannabis has been made legal in other parts of the world; it means these criminal operations are now increasingly looking to bring drugs into the UK.”

THAILAND HOT-SPOT FOR CANNABIS SMUGGLING

In 2022 Thailand was the first country in Asia to decriminalise cannabis with a subsequent dramatic increase in the amount being smuggled to the UK by both post and air passengers.

Earlier this year, the UK Border Force and National Crime Agency (NCA) took part in Operation Chaophraya at Bangkok Airport that saw over two tonnes of cannabis with an estimated value of £6 million being seized. 

Over 50 British nationals have been arrested in Thailand for attempted cannabis smuggling, during the operation.

Heathrow has seen a spike in the smuggling of cannabis from Thailand (Image: PA)

How cannabis legalisation was operating in practice has since prompted a re-think by Thai authorities.

READ MORE: UK-Thai deal sees 90% reduction in cannabis smuggling by post, Home Office says

New government rules imposed in June re-criminalised the drug for recreational use making it mandatory for any retail cannabis purchase to require a prescription from a medical professional.

It means the thousands of cannabis shops that had sprung up - many serving tourists - may have to register with the government as clinics.

Alex Murray, NCA director of threat leadership, said: “We have been working well with the Thai authorities who are keen to intervene.

“Couriers should think very carefully about agreeing to smuggle cannabis. There are life-changing consequences.

"Crime groups can be very persuasive but the risk of getting caught is very high and simply not worth it.”