A British man has been busted trying to smuggle a suitcase stuffed with cannabis from Bangkok to Newcastle as cops crack down on a fast-developing drug route from the Thai capital.

The arrest took place at Vienna International Airport, a city airport on the outskirts of the Austrian capital on 27th May.

The 31-year-old suspect was stopped during a transit stop on his way to Newcastle via Frankfurt and was led away in handcuffs to be locked up in preventive custody at the Korneuburg prison.

Customs officers found 11.3 kilogrammes (24.9lb) of cannabis packed into 13 vacuum-sealed parcels concealed among clothes in the man’s suitcase.

The suitcase had been checked in at Bangkok and was labelled for onward travel to Frankfurt and Newcastle.

Police said the street value of the cannabis was approximately EUR 113,000 (GBP 95,000).

According to police, the man, who was not named, refused to confess and made no statement about the contents of the suitcase.

Officials said the investigation is being led by the public prosecutor’s office in Korneuburg.

The arrest is part of a growing number of similar cases involving drug couriers flying out of Thailand and transiting through Austria.

In March, a 22-year-old Swedish woman was stopped at Vienna airport carrying 20 kilogrammes (44 lbs) of cannabis on a flight from Bangkok to Germany via Vienna.

In early April, a 25-year-old Dutch woman with another 20 kilogrammes (44 lbs) was caught trying to fly the same Bangkok route to Brussels.

Earlier that month, another British man was also caught with a suitcase full of cannabis at the same airport.

(MJ Leidig/newsX)