A 21-year-old British woman is being held in a Sri Lankan prison after authorities say she attempted to smuggle 46kg of cannabis into the country in two suitcases.
Charlotte May Lee, from south London, was arrested last week after flying from Thailand to Colombo.
The former TUI flight attendant claims she had no knowledge of the drugs and believes they were planted in her luggage.
Photographs published by the Daily Mail show Lee dressed in white at the Colombo Police Narcotic Bureau following her arrest. Other images show the large quantity of “Kush”, a potent form of synthetic cannabis, allegedly recovered from her luggage.
Lee had reportedly been working on a booze cruise in Thailand before travelling to Sri Lanka while she waited for her visa to renew.
Speaking from Negombo Prison, where she is currently being held, she told reporters: “I had never seen them before. I didn’t expect it at all when they pulled me over at the airport. I thought it was going to be filled with all my stuff.”
She added that she has not eaten in days, describing the food as too spicy and conditions as dire.
“I’m trying my best to stay positive because what else can you do?” she said, adding that she was sleeping in a corridor with no beds or blankets.
Lee says she believes the drugs were planted in her suitcase while she was on a night out and had already packed her bags for the early flight. “They must have planted it then… I know who did it,” she claimed.
There are fears she could be transferred to Welikada Prison – one of the country’s most notorious facilities – where conditions have been described as “hellish”, with rats and maggots reportedly found in food.
Lee’s case echoes that of Bella May Culley, another British woman arrested in Georgia for allegedly trying to smuggle 14kg of cannabis.
Both had travelled alone from Bangkok and are suspected of being used as drug mules by organised crime groups.
Culley is currently in Georgia’s Prison No. 5, which has also come under fire from human rights groups for overcrowding and poor treatment of inmates.
