Increasing numbers of influencers and TV personalities are being tempted into drug smuggling by the promise of fast money when they prove unable to turn their social media following into cash, experts told today.
While thousands seek to portray a luxury lifestyle online, monetising even hundreds of thousands of followers can prove difficult.
A star of dating show Too Hot to Handle is the latest onscreen celebrity to fall foul of the law after being arrested at Manchester Airport with 40kg of cannabis worth £150,000.
Olga Bednarska, 27, who carried the haul from Thailand in two large suitcases before she was stopped at customs, avoided prison with a 20-month suspended sentence.
She is only the most recent of a string of high-profile figures in the world of showbiz and social media who have become involved in drug trafficking in the hope of funding their lavish lifestyles.
Influencers with up to 100,000 followers can make up to £350 a post, according to social media specialist Tribe. While this may appear a lot, it is rarely enough to maintain an expensive lifestyle, and only a tiny of minority of influencers survive on their social media work alone.
PR expert Mark Borkowski told : ‘The art of this for a lot of them is making their life look ultra glamorous, but the harsh reality is it’s the minority who make lots of money from this, not the majority.
‘If you’re a Kardashian or Cristiano Ronaldo, it’s a great income, but for most people the riches aren’t there. I can easily see that this could lead to people becoming more desperate because they are tuned into this new normality of living a luxurious lifestyle.’
Criminal psychologist Dr David Holmes told that many were influencers who were lured to crime were motivated by the offer of financial reward, but other factors are at play too.
‘Generally speaking money – and often a desperate need for it – is a key motivation, but when you’re talking about ”stars” another potential factor may be sensation seeking,’ he said.
‘The idea of going through customs when you’re on edge every second and then getting away with it is very exciting if you like playing Russian Roulette with your life.
‘Most of the time people don’t get caught – there’s a fairly low hit rate for customs – so people may think they have a fair chance of getting away with it
‘Multiple offending and then getting caught is generally the rule of what happens, although some first timers become nervous and hand themselves in.’
Magdalena Sadlo, 30, bought Louis Vuitton bags, a £130,000 Patek Philippe watch and a £30,000 Rolex after playing a role in a £53million drug smuggling operation.
Sadlo, who appeared on the Polish version of Love Island, was seized by police after flying from Heathrow to Dubai and pleaded guilty to drug smuggling earlier this year.
Also lured by greed was Modou Adams, a British male model found guilty of drug trafficking last year at the age of 25 after trying to fly into Peru with £300,000 worth of cocaine.
The Londoner had wowed thousands of social media fans with his VIP globetrotting in a display of excess police described as a front for his criminal activities.
But he has now swapped this world of faux glamour with the inside of a grim Peruvian prison cell, where he is now just over a year into his six years and eight months sentence.
The case of Too Hot to Handle’s Olga Bednarska is illustrative of some of the factors persuading starry-eyed wannabe celebrities into the world of international organised crime.
Manchester Crown Court heard how Bednarska, who appeared in series three of hit Netflix show, had accumulated £16,000 of debt after ‘living beyond her means’.
To pay this off, she had resorted to crime and agreed to fly to Thailand on an all-expenses paid trip to import designer items out of the country in return for £18,000.
Bednarska cried in court on Tuesday as she was spared prison after pleading guilty to being concerned in the fraudulent evasion of a prohibition on the importation of a class B drug.
Instead, Judge John Potter handed her a 20-month sentence, which was suspended for two years.
Handing down his sentence, the judge said: ‘Over the course of the last few years, you have found yourself in financial difficulties. You have incurred debts to do with work, rent and other household costs. You have simply lived beyond your means.
‘Via a friend of a friend, you agreed to import designer goods from Thailand. You agreed to go and do this and return 10 days later. Your expenses were to be paid by others, and you were to be paid £18,000.’
‘You decided to place your trust in someone you hardly knew. You were acting under the direction of others, potentially for further profit.
‘I am sure you can imagine the harm that wholesale value drugs have on our communities when they are sold for profit. You have directly contributed to this by agreeing to do what you did.’
Former Met Police officer Norman Brennan was among those questioning the decision not to jail Bednarska, who is from Poland but lived in Manchester.
‘If she was in debt, obviously she probably saw this as a good opportunity to earn a good whack of money,’ he told .
‘As far as I’m concerned, £150,000 worth of cannabis is a huge amount.
‘And not only do illegal drugs kill people. Many addicts will rely upon that, and to buy that they will shoplift. They will rob people, and they will steal to pay for their addiction.’
Other showbiz personalities become involved in smuggling cash rather than drugs, with police recently busting a £104m smuggling ring which involved Joe Calzaghe’s ex.
Tara Hanlon, 31, was jailed for nearly three years in 2021 after being caught taking around £2million from the UK to Dubai as part of the criminal conspiracy.
Videos Hanlon took showing the spoils of the smuggling were published last year after her co-conspirators including Jo-Emma Larvin, 44, and Beatrice Auty, 26, were also convicted.
The footage taken from Hanlon’s phone shows her parading through the £500-a-night Five Palm Jumeirah hotel.
As she surveys the deluxe property, the Kim Kardashian lookalike declares: ‘We’ve got the room. Nice little sofa. A massive bed, nice amenities.’
Larvin, who previously dated Welsh boxer Joe Calzaghe, walked free from court last year for her role in the plot.
The judge said Larvin and her partner, Jonathan Johnson, took the job ‘by chance’ in the hope of securing a quick payday.
The model’s six year relationship with former Welsh boxing legend Calzaghe ended in 2009.