Latest news with #DanielMcDonald
Daily Mail
11-06-2025
- Daily Mail
British couple are charged with 'smuggling £1million of cannabis from Thailand' after being stopped at Heathrow
A British couple have been charged with smuggling £1million of cannabis into the UK from Thailand. Sian Warren, 34, and Daniel McDonald, 36, were arrested by National Crime Agency officers at Heathrow last month after allegedly being found with more than 51kg of the Class B drug in their suitcases. The pair were charged with importing class B drugs and appeared at Uxbridge magistrates' court on May 29. They have since been bailed and are due to attend a plea hearing at Isleworth crown court on June 26. Sian reportedly works as an administrator for a house building business where Daniel's father also works. The couple, who are both from Salford, Manchester, had flown out for a dream holiday to Bangkok last month, according to the Sun. Sian's father Tony has claimed she would not have knowingly smuggled drugs into the country. He told the Sun: 'Sian's not brought anything back, definitely not. She had her own suitcase with clothes in it.' The couple are the latest Brits to be caught allegedly trying to smuggle drugs into another country. Last month a British former flight attendant was accused of smuggling £1.2 million of super-strength cannabis into Sri Lanka. Charlotte May Lee, 21, from Coulsdon, south London, was arrested in Colombo after police discovered 46 kg of 'Kush' - a synthetic strain of cannabis - in her suitcase. She had just arrived in the Sri Lankan capital on a flight from Bangkok in Thailand. She was arrested at Bandaranaike Airport and taken into custody on Monday, May 11. She is facing up to 25 years locked in a hellhole Sri Lankan jail - but she has insisted she has been set up MailOnline spoke to her from her cell where she admitted that she had not been eating because the food was too spicy. Elsewhere, Bella May Culley, 18, is now facing life in prison in the former Soviet country after being accused of illegally buying, possessing and importing large quantities of narcotics. The youngster from Billingham, Country Durham, was believed to have gone missing in Thailand before she was detained 3,700 miles away at Tbilisi International Airport. Concerns had been raised that the two cases were related as both young women left Bangkok airport on the same day and were arrested in Sri Lanka and Georgia respectively within hours of each other.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Yahoo
Couple charged over alleged Thailand cannabis plot
A British couple have been charged with allegedly trying to smuggle more than 50kg of cannabis from Thailand into the UK. Daniel McDonald, 36, and Sian Warren, 35, from Salford, Greater Manchester, were arrested at Heathrow Airport after arriving from the country on 27 May, the National Crime Agency said. The agency said it found suitcases containing 51kg (112lb) of cannabis. The pair have been charged with drugs importation offences and faced Uxbridge Magistrates court last week. They were remanded in custody and will next appear in Isleworth Crown Court on 26 June. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230. Footballer jailed for £600k drugs smuggling plot National Crime Agency
BBC News
11-06-2025
- BBC News
Salford couple charged over alleged Thailand cannabis importation
A British couple have been charged with allegedly trying to smuggle more than 50kgs of cannabis from Thailand into the UK. Daniel McDonald, 36, and Sian Warren, 35, from Salford, Greater Manchester, were arrested at Heathrow Airport after arriving from the country on 27 May, the National Crime Agency said. The agency said it found suitcases containing 51kgs (112lbs) of pair have been charged with drugs importation offences and faced Uxbridge Magistrates court last week. They were remanded in custody and will next appear in Isleworth Crown Court on 26 June. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
Metro
10-06-2025
- Metro
British couple 'tried to smuggle £1,000,000 of cannabis into UK from Thailand'
A British couple have been charged with trying to smuggle £1 million worth of cannabis into the UK from Thailand. Daniel McDonald, 36, and Sian Warren, 34, were detained after landing at Heathrow Airport on May 27. Four of their cases are said to have been packed with 51kg of cannabis. The pair, from Salford in Greater Manchester, were charged with importing class B drugs and appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates Court last week. They were bailed and will next appear at Isleworth Crown Court on June 26. The couple had been on a dream holiday in Asia, Sian's dad Tony said. He told the Sun his daughter 'has not brought anything back, definitely not', adding: 'She had her own suitcases with clothes in it.' Theirs is the latest in a series of high-profile cases concerning Brits accused of smuggling drugs overseas. Bella May Culley faces a maximum sentence of 20 years or life imprisonment in Georgia if she is convicted over a cannabis haul worth £200,000. Her case was followed by that of Charlotte May Lee, 21, who is currently in prison in Sri Lanka, also accused of trying to run the drug out of Thailand. More Trending The former cabin crew worker, from Coulsdon, south London is accused of attempting to smuggle 101lb (46kg) of synthetic kush worth £1.2 million in two suitcases. Last month, a British couple were arrested in Spain after 32kg of cannabis was discovered in two suitcases. Hours later, an electrician from Cumbria narrowly escaped a death sentence in Bali after initial drug trafficking charges against him were dropped, and instead replaced with hiding information from the authorities. A British pensioner was also arrested in Chile after allegedly attempting to smuggle five kilos of methamphetamine. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Couple died with their two dogs when their car plummeted 300ft off Isle of Wight cliff MORE: Mushroom 'killer' Erin Patterson accused of 'making it up as she goes along' MORE: Man arrested after 15 police officers injured in violent Ballymena riots
Daily Record
10-06-2025
- Daily Record
Couple busted with £1m of drugs in luggage at airport in drug mule fears
Daniel McDonald and Sian Warren were arrested at Heathrow Airport. A couple detained as they tried to bring drugs worth £1million into the UK have been charged with smuggling. Daniel McDonald and Sian Warren were snared at Heathrow Airport. McDonald, 36, and Warren, 34, are accused of trying to smuggle cannabis worth the seven-figure sum after coming back from the Asian holiday hotspot of Thailand. The National Crime Agency reportedly found more than 51kg of cannabis in their luggage. It is understood that the drug was in four cases that the pair were carrying. They appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court where they have been charged with importing Class B drugs and have been bailed under curfew ahead of a plea hearing on June 26 at Isleworth Crown Court. Warren and McDonald, from Salford, Greater Manchester, went to Bangkok on holiday last month and Warren's dad Tony told The Sun that there must have been a mistake. The Mirror reports He said: "Sian's not brought anything back, definitely not. She had her own suitcase with clothes in it." It is the latest of several incidents involving British holidaymakers who have been accused of smuggling drugs from Thailand. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. An expert has now warned that criminal gangs are 'grooming' naive tourists. In the last few weeks, three British women have hit the headlines after they were accused of attempting to smuggle drugs. Bella May Cullen, 18, was arrested after flying into Georgia from Thailand with around 14kg of cannabis and 2kg of hashish in her luggage. A day later former TUI stewardess Charlotte May Lee was allegedly caught with 46kg of Kush. She is said to have had the high-grade strain of cannabis, valued at £1.2million, in her luggage after arriving in Sri Lanka, again from Thailand. And then it emerged another Brit, Isabella Daggett, 21, from Leeds, has been held in a hellhole Dubai prison since March. She was arrested on suspected drugs offences. Nathan Paul Southern is the Operations Director at The EyeWitness Project, which specialises in the investigation of organised crime, conflict and corruption. He says southeast Asia has now become the world's leading supplier of both narcotics like heroin and synthetic drugs like ecstasy and crystal meth. The 'Golden Triangle' - a large mountainous region on the borders with Myanmar, Thailand and Laos, recently overtook Afghanistan as the world's largest producer of opium, used to make heroin. And he says gangs are 'flocking' to the region from around the world, where they appear to be using grooming techniques used in other types of crimes to ensnare impressionable young Westerners. Mr Southern said: "The idea of charming strangers grooming backpackers isn't new, it's just the same old tactics in a region with a booming drug trade." He told the Mirror: "The same grooming techniques we've seen in romance scams and human trafficking could be getting adapted for drug smuggling."
