Eleven people including a Canadian professional volleyball player have been charged with smuggling cannabis into the UK.

Officials seized a total of more than 300kg of the drug after arresting air passengers coming in to Heathrow and Gatwick airports on Saturday and Sunday.

The operations follows warnings from the National Crime Agency (NCA) last month that the amount of cannabis seized in luggage at UK airports had tripled in less than a year.

In August the NCA revealed that so far in 2024 around 15 tonnes of the drug had been uncovered at airports, compared to five tonnes throughout the whole of 2023, and two tonnes in 2022.

Nine people accused of smuggling class B drugs appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on Monday and Tuesday.

They are: Paige Jonas-Willingham, 21, of no fixed abode; Paul Lambert 42, of Lower Broughton, Salford; professional volleyball player Raekelle Powell, 22, from Toronto, Canada; Victoria Roberson, 35, from California, United States; Siobhan McTavey, 24, of Makem Park, Keady, County Armagh; Chew Meu Wong, 50, from Malaysia; Christopher Duffell, 44, from Canada; Tania Fetherston, 51, from Canada; and Siew Fong Chua, 43, from Malaysia.

They will next appear at Isleworth Crown Court on October 24.

Another two defendants Peter Kargbo, 22, from Wolverhampton, and 29-year-old Canadian national Malik Barrett, appeared before Croydon magistrates on Tuesday, and will appear at Croydon Crown Court on October 21 and 28 respectively.

The NCA believes the increase in the amount of cannabis being seized is due to overproduction in countries where is is legal.

Between September 14 and 20 a total of 17 people were arrested and charged with trying to bring a total of around 618kg of cannabis into the UK.

Those accused include professional footballer Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, 33, who has been charged with importing class B drugs and will next appear at Carlisle Crown Court on October 18.