British flight attendant, 21, appears in court accused of smuggling 46kg of synthetic cannabis into Sri Lanka - where she faces up to 25 years in prison

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

A young British former flight attendant accused of smuggling £1.2 million of super-strength cannabis into Sri Lanka was in tears today as she appeared in a packed court.
Charlotte May Lee, 21, from Coulsdon, south London, was arrested in Colombo after police discovered 46 kg of 'Kush' - a synthetic strain of cannabis - in her suitcase.
She had just arrived in the Sri Lankan capital on a flight from Bangkok in Thailand. She was arrested at Bandaranaike Airport and taken into custody on Monday, May 11.
Today Charlotte was filmed in a white dress with her hands behind her back being escorted to a prison van by police outside the court building in Colombo.
She was visibly upset and tearful when she appeared in the courtroom.
The former TUI flight attendant was held in a cell at the back of the room and then briefly led to the witness box but struggled to follow proceedings because it was in the main language of Sri Lanka, Sinhalese.
Police also wheeled in the near-50kg haul of cannabis she was caught carrying into court as their investigation into the drugs bust continues. Charlotte is expected to appear in the dock again in two weeks.
She is facing up to 25 years locked in a hellhole Sri Lankan jail - but she has insisted she has been set up. MailOnline spoke to her from her cell last week where she admitted that she had not been eating because the food was too spicy.
Speaking to MailOnline from behind bars in the woman's ward of a notorious prison last week, Miss Lee said she had 'no idea' that there were drugs in her luggage when she set off for Sri Lanka.
She said: 'I had never seen them before. I didn't expect it all when they pulled me over at the airport. I thought it was going to be filled with all my stuff.
'I had been in Bangkok the night before and had already packed my clothes because my flight was really early.
'So I left my bags in the hotel room and headed for the night out. As they were already packed I didn't check them again in the morning.
'They must have planted it then.'
And she added: 'I know who did it.'
Charlotte May Lee, 21, is facing years locked in a grim Sri Lankan jail after being caught with £1.2 million worth of cannabis
Miss Lee told us she had been working temporarily on a 'booze cruise' in Thailand but her 30-day visa was about to run out so she decided to take a trip to nearby Sri Lanka while she waited for her Thai visa to be renewed.
She decided to go to the country because it was relatively nearby - only a three-hour flight away - and she had never visited there before.
'I thought while I was waiting for the visa that I'd come to Sri Lanka.
'They [the people she believed planted the drugs] were supposed to meet me here. But now I'm here - stuck in this jail.'
After her arrest, Miss Lee was initially held at the Police Narcotics Bureau for seven days.
She says she was forced to sleep on a sofa that had bed bugs with a security guard watching her the whole time.
Speaking to MailOnline from behind bars in the woman's ward of the notorious prison, Miss Lee said she had 'no idea' that there were drugs in her luggage
Then on Sunday she was brought to Negombo Magistrates Court where she was given remanded in custody for a further 14 days while she awaits further hearings.
At this point she was transferred to Negombo Prison where she still remains, stuck in her crowded cell for 22 hours a day and only let out to eat and briefly stretch her legs.
And it was here that she spoke to MailOnline last week to highlight the 'awful' conditions in the prison - revealing she has not eaten any food at all for two days because the prison meals have been making her ill.
She said: 'I am trying my best to stay positive because what else can you do?
'But it is hard. I feel as though I have no human rights here. There are no beds, no blankets. And where you sleep is like a long corridor with lots of other women.
'I am sleeping on a concrete floor - literally. All I have is my jumper as a pillow.
'There is a ceiling fan but it doesn't really work and there's a TV but that also barely works. I only have this one pair of clothes, nothing else to change into and I'm not being allowed my medication for ADHD.
'The only thing they give are sleeping tablets that properly knock you out.
'The shower is not really a shower, it's just a bucket that you pour over yourself but they don't give you anything for that.
'They put you in an alleyway with a bunch of other women, that's it.'
'You are only allowed two or three hours outside in the sun a day, occasionally longer if there are a lot of women in court that day.
'I've not eaten in two days because the food is just too spicy for me.
'I have told my lawyers - I have three of them - that I need different food. They said they would sort that but they still haven't. I don't know why.
'Fortunately, some of the girls speak English and have shared biscuits and things like that with me, which is nice.
'All the other British people being held here are men, so I don't get to see them.
'There is no communication. You are told nothing. I couldn't arrange an e-visit with my family or even write a letter.'
Negombo Prison is one of the largest in Sri Lanka with the majority of inmates being men - with a smaller side wing for women like Charlotte.
Miss Lee added: 'Some people are nice, some people are not so nice.
'You can't trust many people - even the lawyers. I was being held in the narcotics unit until Sunday and now I will be here until my next court case.
'They don't care about you. I came in with nothing and have nothing but luckily other people have stuff here they can share with me.'
The Londoner, who had been training to become an eyelash technician, attended Negombo Magistrates Court on Monday.
There she was accused of two charges, one of possessing illegal drugs and another of importing illegal drugs into Sri Lanka.
A legal source told MailOnline: 'When Charlotte arrived in court she seemed completely lost.
'She was crying a lot and was all on her own. It looked like she didn't have any idea about what was going on.
'It's unclear what will happen to her now. She may well be sent to Welikada Prison in Colombo.'
Welikada Prison in Colombo is the biggest, maximum security jail in Sri Lanka, accommodating both men and women.
The prison has been hit with a number of scandals including riots in 2012 which that left 27 dead.
It has been described as 'Hell' for women - with maggots being reportedly found food and rats scuttling around extremely overcrowded cells.
The haul of drugs, which according to the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) was the largest ever amount of illegal substances found in the airport, were intended for 'high-end local buyers'.
Footage provided to MailOnline shows two large suitcases and what appears to be parcels of drugs alongside a group of narcotics detectives who uncovered the alleged smuggling.
In the background of the clip, a British woman's voice can be heard laughing and saying 'it's not that, don't worry'.
In another partially auditable clip she can be heard saying 'it looks like drugs to me' before later adding 'and I told them I was 21'.
Pictures from the scene show six officers in the airport standing over two large suitcases and dozens of large vacuum packed bags of the drug.
Officials from the Customs Narcotics Control Unit in the airport said it is the largest amount of Kush ever to be detected since the international hub opened.
Her social media accounts show Miss Lee appearing to enjoy working for the travel company
The 'massive consignment' is worth the equivalent of £1.2 million in Sri Lankan rupees.
Meanwhile the Foreign Office in the UK has confirmed that it is supporting a British woman who has been arrested in Sri Lanka and is in contact with her family, as well as local authorities.
According to Miss Lee's friends she has been trying to post updates on her plight on Snapchat.
One woman, close to the cabin crew member turned lash technician, said that she was shocked when she heard the allegation - insisting Miss Lee was a 'nice girl' and not a criminal.
The friend, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: 'I couldn't believe it. Charlotte is a hard worker and a grafter not a drug smuggler.'
Another friend said: 'I am in total shock. 'She is a really nice girl, there were no red flags or anything.
'We saw clips of the arrest and we could hear an English woman, who sounded very much like Charlotte in the background.'
Another added: 'She's been told that if convicted, because of the size of the drugs haul, she is looking at between 20 and 25 years in jail. British Embassy staff warned her she's going nowhere soon.'
Miss Lee had previously worked as a cabin crew member for TUI, yet friends have said this was only a 'summer contract'.
Her social media accounts show her appearing to have a great time working for the travel company, posing in her stewardess uniform and even in the cockpit of one of the planes.
Photos shared on her social media show her living a typical life of a young woman in London in her early twenties - out drinking at the pub with friends or dancing at nightclubs.
Miss Lee, according to friends, first flew out to Thailand in April to celebrate her 21st birthday with her older sister who was meeting her from Australia, where she now lives.
Following the holiday, Miss Lee is said to have returned to Coulsdon, telling mates that she 'loved Thailand and wanted to work out there'.
She mentioned around four weeks ago that 'she had a job on a boat' in the south-east Asian country but according to her friend did not mention any immediate plans of returning.
Yet last week, the young woman began posting pictures again of beautiful white sand beaches and selfies of her partying abroad.
And on Monday, the day of her arrest, she had posted a TikTok of herself on a plane, wearing a facemask, as she flew over a pretty island. She tagged the location of the video as Bangkok.
The incident comes just days after a British teenager was arrested in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi after allegedly arriving from Thailand carrying 14kg of cannabis in her luggage.
Bella May Culley, 18, is now facing life in prison in the former Soviet country after being accused of illegally buying, possessing and importing large quantities of narcotics.
The youngster from Billingham, Country Durham, was believed to have gone missing in Thailand before she was detained 3,700 miles away at Tbilisi International Airport on the charges.
Concerns had been raised that the two cases were related as both young women left Bangkok airport on the same day.
But Miss Lee told MailOnline she did not know Ms Culley, who has been remanded in custody until her next appearance on July 1.
Miss Lee and Miss Culley, who both flew out of Bangkok on Monday, were arrested in the countries within hours of each other, meaning the cases could be related.