Border guards at Manchester Airport have been told not to arrest passengers who bring small amounts of cannabis and other drugs through customs.

Police would normally deal with cannabis possession with a £90 fine or a warning, while possession of other Class B drugs can lead to up to five years’ imprisonment.

But it has been revealed in a report by John Vine, chief inspector of Border and Immigration, that official guidance steers against arrests for ‘personal use’ quantities of Class B drugs.

This includes cannabis, amphetamines, and mephedrone – street name Meow Meow.

Personal use amounts of cannabis are normally classed as around an ounce.

It means that passengers at Manchester Airport caught returning with small amounts of cannabis probably won’t be arrested – but will have their drugs confiscated.

A Manchester Border Force spokesman said: “Our message is clear - importing cannabis is illegal and our officers will seize it and other illegal drugs if smugglers try to bring it into the UK.

“Like the police, Border Force officers have powers to deal with small seizures of class B and C drugs, in quantities consistent with personal use, without referring the matter to court.”

The instruction came to light in a report on Stansted airport by John Vine, the chief inspector of Border and Immigration.

Referring to one incident, he wrote: “The passenger was initially detained under immigration powers in the immigration detention suite, but was subsequently found to have a small quantity (for personal use) of what was believed to be cannabis in their baggage.”

He said the passenger was arrested ‘despite previously issued guidance stating that arrests for ‘personal use’ quantities of Class B drugs were not to be undertaken (unless there were extenuating circumstances, which there were not in this case).”

The passenger in the Stansted case was de-arrested and released.

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