27/12/2025
Young mother who tried to smuggle £285,000 of cannabis from Thailand avoids jail after claiming drug gang threatened to kill her child
A young mother who attempted to smuggle £285,000 worth of cannabis into the UK from Thailand has avoided jail after claiming drug traffickers threatened to murder her five-year-old son unless she acted as a courier.
Poppie Kudiersky, 22, was arrested after customs officers at Manchester Airport stopped the man she had travelled with and discovered two suitcases containing 28.5kg of cannabis.
Kudiersky initially told investigators she had reluctantly agreed to travel to Thailand to assist with a stolen credit card scheme. However, she later claimed that while abroad she was sent photographs showing criminals outside her family home in Denton, Greater Manchester.
She said she was then handed two suitcases containing 57 vacuum-packed bundles of cannabis and warned her mother’s house would be burned down and her child killed unless she smuggled the drugs into the UK.
Despite these claims, investigators later uncovered photographs on her mobile phone showing her relaxing on the beaches of Phuket, drinking cocktails, riding a jet ski and visiting the Phi Phi islands. One social media post showed her sunbathing by a hotel pool with the caption: “Blessed with the foreign skin that tans easily.”
Kudiersky pleaded guilty at Manchester Crown Court to importing cannabis. She faced an immediate custodial sentence but was instead given two years in prison suspended for two years, despite figures showing cannabis smuggling by air passengers has surged by 3,625 per cent in just two years.
Her travelling companion, Mohammed Jacfer, 26, a Dutch national living in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, was jailed for two years at an earlier hearing after admitting drug importation.
The court heard the pair arrived at Manchester Airport on February 2, 2024, on a flight from Thailand via Doha.
Prosecutor Philip Hall said both were seen using their phones before Kudiersky collected a trolley stacked with luggage. Jacfer attempted to pass through the green customs channel carrying two suitcases and a rucksack.
When asked whether the bags were his, Jacfer replied: “Should be,” before inspecting the cases and adding: “Where’s the name on them? No, these aren’t my bags — mine must be out there. Can I go and look for them?”
Customs officers established both suitcases were tagged in Kudiersky’s name. One was X-rayed and found to contain 57 vacuum-sealed packages of cannabis weighing approximately 28.5kg.
Three days later police arrested Kudiersky at her home and seized her mobile phone. When cautioned, she said: “His suitcase is gone. I’ve ripped the tag off it.”
She later told officers: “I never had a choice.”
Messages recovered from her phone showed she acknowledged the suitcases were hers and thanked Jacfer for supporting her during “meltdowns” while abroad. The conversation became heated after Jacfer’s arrest.
Other messages suggested Kudiersky was “trying to get a free holiday”, the prosecutor said. Photographs showed she had fully enjoyed the trip, prompting her mother to question how it had been funded.
Further messages revealed Kudiersky saying “they” were turning on her and that she had been told to fly back with a suitcase, warning that “s***’s gonna happen” and that threats had been made against her family.
Kudiersky gave no comment during her police interview but later submitted an accepted basis of plea. She said she had agreed to transport clothing purchased with stolen credit cards but claimed the suitcases she was given contained drugs instead.
She said she initially refused, but then received threats to herself and her family, including a photograph of people outside her mother’s address, where her child was staying. She claimed she was warned the house would be burned down and her son killed if she did not comply.
Her barrister, Patrick Buckley, said in mitigation: “It is accepted by all parties that she was subject to threats of violence both to her and her family. We understand there are complications in her life.”
The court heard Kudiersky had previous convictions for battery and possession of cannabis.
National Crime Agency figures showed just 20 air passengers were arrested for cannabis importation in 2022. That rose to 134 in 2023, and to 745 in 2024. In the first nine months of this year alone, 680 passengers were detained.
Sentencing her, Judge Hilary Manley ordered Kudiersky to complete 15 days of rehabilitation activity and 150 hours of unpaid work.
She said: “The NCA describes a continuing rise in this type of crime, having a huge impact on UK law enforcement and increasing demand on resources.
“Because of how common this offending has become, it is vital people understand that those who involve themselves in drug importation will receive deterrent sentences of immediate imprisonment.
“If this offence had been committed in more recent months, the sentence would have been one of immediate custody regardless of vulnerability and youth.
“But because it occurred in early 2024, when the rise was only just beginning, I am able to take a particularly exceptional course today.”
