A British woman was arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle cannabis from Thailand to the United Kingdom.

Luziela Aaliyah Carvalho, 19, was reportedly caught with 35kg (80lbs) of marijuana while trying to board a plane at the Chiang Mai International Airport on March 4.

She was scheduled to fly to Hong Kong before taking a second flight to London on Cathay Pacific flight CX 251 before officers allegedly detected the contraband in her luggage.

Police confiscated the drug - which is legal in the country but not to carry across borders in large amounts - and found it was worth around 350,000 Baht (8,100 GBP).

Luziela arrest came as Thai customs officials intercepted two other alleged cannabis smuggling attempts through the airport.

The suspects were identified as Malaysian nationals Nicholas Tang Ke Le, 23, Muhammad Fitri Bin Suhaimi, 35, and Nasuha Binti Ahmad Nazari, 35.

All of the suspects except for Nicholas allegedly admitted to the charges. They claimed they had been hired by a European individual to deliver the cannabis - totalling 100 kg (230 lbs) - to the UK.

Police Lieutenant General Krittaphon Yisakhon, commissioner of Provincial Police Region 5, said: ‘The suspects used a loophole in the new Thai law, where possession and transportation of cannabis within Thailand is not illegal. However, if the cannabis is meant to be imported or exported, it then falls under customs law.'

The officer added that following multiple marijuana seizures at the Phuket International Airport, suspected traffickers have shifted their attention to the Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok, and the Chiang Mai International Airport in Chiang Mai.

Thai authorities said they were discussing tighter security measures to block cannabis smugglers, who can achieve large profits from the arbitrage with their homelands.

British officials from the UK's National Crime Agency visited Thailand last year over a spate of Brit cannabis smugglers in the Southeast Asian nation.

The suspects were said to have been recruited through the Telegram chat app to transport cannabis back to Britain in exchange for free holidays to Thailand.

Cannabis with under 0.2 per cent of THC was decriminalised in Thailand in June 2022, as a potential cash crop for impoverished farmers. Cannabis smoking is allowed for personal use in private areas but remains prohibited in public spaces.

However, bungling officials are now seeking to outlaw recreational cannabis, blaming poorly regulated use for allegedly fuelling drug abuse and a rise in the the number of cases of tourists over-indulging in the drug.

Tourist destinations such as Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya have seen the negative consequences of legalising the drug, with tourists regularly arrested for misbehaving while under the influence of cannabis.