Bella Culley's dad makes an incredible pledge for her freedom amid cartel fears
The father of 18-year-old Bella Culley, the British teen arrested in Georgia with 14kg of cannabis and hashish, has pledged to remain in the country "as long as it takes" to help his daughter — as organised crime experts warn UK backpackers may be in the sights of Thai drug gangs.
Niel Culley, 49, an offshore oil rig technician living in Vietnam, flew to the Black Sea nation as soon as news of Bella's arrest broke last Tuesday night.
But heartbreakingly, he has not yet been allowed to visit his daughter, who is being held in a notorious Georgian prison, reports MailOnline.
"I can't say anything but I will be here for as long as it takes," he told the Mail. "I obviously have no experience in dealing with situations like this and it's very difficult."
Bella is currently being held at Women's Penitentiary Number 5, just outside the capital Tbilisi, after she was stopped at the city's airport on May 11. Officials found 12kg of cannabis and 2kg of hashish in her luggage following her £550 Air Arabia flight from Bangkok via Sharjah.
Her father is being supported in Georgia by his sister, 51-year-old Kerrie Culley, as they face an agonising wait — with red tape reportedly preventing them from seeing Bella until at least Wednesday. She first appeared in court on May 13, and is now remanded in custody until her next scheduled hearing on July 1.
The case has raised alarm bells among experts, who warn that British travellers may be being targeted by cartels in Thailand. It follows a second arrest of a British national accused of smuggling cannabis out of the country.
Charlotte May Lee, 21, a flight attendant, was arrested in Sri Lanka just hours after Bella's flight. Authorities in Colombo claim she was carrying £1.15million worth of kush, a potent synthetic strain of cannabis. Investigators are probing whether the two cases are connected.
Former Georgian police general and narcotics expert Jemal Janashia told the Mail: "The fact that two young British women have taken off with large quantities of drugs from the same airport will interest investigators.
"They will be concerned about the possibility of a link and that Thai gangs may be attempting to recruit vulnerable British travellers."
Both women left Thailand during the Royal Ploughing Ceremony, one of the busiest weekends of the year for Thai airports — a prime opportunity, say officials, for traffickers to exploit chaos and sneak contraband out.
It follows a major crackdown on cannabis being posted from Thailand to the UK, with authorities in both countries working together to stop drugs from reaching British shores. Since last year, the number of mail shipments containing cannabis has dropped by 90 per cent — from 15 tonnes intercepted in late 2024 to 1.5 tonnes in the first three months of 2025.
Mr Janashia said: "After the crackdown on postal drug deliveries, the Thai cartel are seeking new routes.
"Georgia does look like an attractive middle transit point: It is relatively close and easy to reach Europe from."
With over 800 people — including 50 British nationals — arrested for smuggling since July 2024 and more than nine tonnes of cannabis seized, fears are growing that gangs are turning to drug mules instead.
Mr Janashia, who is advising the family, told the Mail she should cooperate fully with authorities and may be able to secure a plea bargain.
He said: "First of all, I would advise her to cooperate, together with the lawyer, with the investigation, indicate who were the youths that she was in touch with in Thailand.
"And also indicate whether there was a contact person in Georgia as well.
"The court, first of all will clarify and find out whether she has sold drugs before or trafficked them before, what kind of profile she has. And if it's the first time, it's mitigating circumstances."
When asked if his advice to Bella would be to tell the police everything, Mr Janashia replied: "Of course."
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The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
I was banged up in hellhole prison like Brit drug mules & preyed on by pervy guards… sick ways they break female inmates
HANDCUFFED to a chair and sweating profusely in a puffer jacket, Alana Moor was terrified she'd never be allowed to go home. The 24-year-old was due to fly back home to Canada from Panama when she was arrested for drug smuggling in March 2015. 16 16 People she'd considered friends had persuaded her to take a suitcase, which contained 11 kilos of cocaine stashed in the lining. Alana - who was sentenced to six years and nine months for her crime - says she was detained in a stinking prison cell where she was deprived of all basic necessities and preyed on by pervy male prison guards. So she understands only too well the horror that alleged Brit drug mules Bella Culley, 18, Charlotte May Lee, 21, will be facing in Georgia and Sri Lanka respectively, after they too were caught smuggling the illegal substance. In an exclusive chat Alana, now 38, tells The Sun: 'I was scared for my life as two armed officers put me into the back of a rickety truck. 'I didn't know where I was going, and I was terrified I was going to be raped or something. 'After a while, they pulled up to this police station with a prison attached. 'Once there I was strapped to a chair in the clothes I had planned to travel home in - winter items. 'They left me there for days, nowhere to go to the loo, wash, or not even allowed to take off a layer. It was humiliating. "I had to wipe myself with my hand when I went to the loo where I was sat. 'When the guard came to unchain me, he retched at the smell of me. Brits accused of trying to smuggle drugs into the UK from abroad are being locked away for a long time 'Just two weeks before I had been partying with NBA stars.' Alana claims she was convinced to carry the case by a client she was styling, with ambitions of becoming a fashion designer. She had been taken under the wing of the woman - who claimed to work for a famous US music star in Toronto. Alana says the woman, who' d become a friend, promised to introduce her to celebrities that could become potential clients - on the condition she took a holiday to Panama to pick up a suitcase and bring it back to Canada for the musician. Alana claims they promised to get her out of Panama safely if anything went wrong because they had top lawyers. 16 She admits she suspected the suitcase contained something illegal, telling The Sun she thought it was likely drugs, passports or cash. The friend promised Alana that on her return she'd be introduced to the music mogul and become their stylist. But her dream was shattered when border officers found the cocaine stash hidden in the suitcase lining. Alana says she was strip-searched at the airport and made to watch as cops pulled out the packages, which she'd naively thought was insulation. 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'As I was being taken in, the guard said to me, 'There are laws in this country, but as soon as you cross these bars, the laws don't apply'. 'I had nothing given to me, just the clothes I was wearing. I had to shower with laundry detergent for the first two weeks. 'I wasn't given any underwear, no toilet paper or sanitary products. When I got my period I had to free bleed, with blood soaking my clothes as I went about my day. 'Guards and other inmates would tell me I smelt like blood, but there was nothing I could do. No woman should ever be put in that position.' Thankfully Alana's parents were allowed to visit and could bring supplies and money for her to buy things she needed - but she says that didn't always make things better. 'Depending on who was guarding when we were sent outside for work, sometimes we wouldn't be allowed back in to use the bathroom," she recalls. 'And when I was on my period, that would mean I used to have to just bleed through whatever sanitary product I was wearing. It was vile.' Horrifying searches Alana claims it was common for prison guards to randomly search cells in the middle of the night or early hours of the morning to try to seize phones or drugs that had been brought into the prison. Often these raids came with humiliating strip searches for the women. 'One morning, 80 balaclava-wearing officers burst in and sprayed us with pepper spray,' she recalls. 'I was in my underwear. They took people out to be strip searched." I'd find notes in my stuff from the male guards telling me I was pretty or that they wanted me to be their girlfriend. Alana Moor Alana claims she was made to bend over and officers pointed to her tampon string, demanding she remove it. 'I tried to refuse, but they didn't care," she says. "I was then made to sit in the corner of the cell while they searched it for 45 minutes holding this bloody tampon in my hand while bleeding everywhere. 'Six male officers watched me as I left the room and then sat where I was told. It was horrendous and inhumane.' Indecent propositions 16 Male officers also brazenly attempted to woo girls they were supposed to be guarding, Alana claims. 'Often after raids I'd find notes in my stuff from the male guards telling me I was pretty or that they wanted me to be their girlfriend,' Alana says. 'They'd leave their phone number because they knew we had mobiles. I was often targeted for being the 'white gringo' in the prison.' Alana says having a mobile phone was commonplace, and hiding them became a lucrative business for inmates. Everyone was hustling to try to make money. Drugs were dropped of at night by gangs. Alana Moor Women would be paid $100 to put them in intimate places to stop them being taken, with Alana claiming some girls fit "up to five" in their private parts. 'Everyone was hustling to try to make money," she says. 'Drugs were also common. They'd be dropped in at night by gangs who would post them through the tiny letter box windows in the concrete jail.' Vile conditions Alana claims it was common for power and water at the prison to fail for days on end, leaving them without showers or facilities to wash. 'We'd be having to put our excrement in bin bags because we couldn't flush the toilets,' she recalls. 'Then we'd be given a bucket of water to shower with for the days the power was out. This was all while it was extremely hot. 'It just wasn't sanitary. I'd get sick a lot because the water wasn't particularly clean. I had to beg and pay to get purified water. There are just layers and layers of trauma being piled onto you when you're inside. They treat you like you're nothing. Alana Moor 'Often the food we were given was rotten, but you had to eat it in order to survive. 'There are just layers and layers of trauma being piled onto you when you're inside. They treat you like you're nothing.' Alana used her prison time to do every course she could, even teaching herself Spanish. She also worked out for two hours every day and helped teach other women how to exercise to keep themselves fit. Warning to Brit drug mules 16 16 16 16 16 16 Now she is a motivational speaker and offers dignity packages to women who find themselves in prison, and helps families advocate for drug mules in similar situations. Alana is horrified by the growing number of young British women who have recently been caught attempting to smuggle drugs. Former air hostess Charlotte May Lee is in a Sri Lankan jail accused of smuggling £1.2million of cannabis while pregnant Bella Culley from County Durham was arrested in Georgia for smuggling cannabis from Thailand. 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Why Brit backpackers are prime targets, Thai cop reveals By Patrick Harrington Police Lieutenant Colonel Arun Musikim, Deputy Inspector of the Surat Thani province police force, said: 'Cases involving British nationals smuggling cannabis have been around for a while. 'There is a lot of cannabis grown on Thailand's islands in the south because the climate is suitable and it is legal. A lot of gangs are attracted to this. 'There are now various smuggling methods that we have seen. Some carry it themselves, some hire backpackers, and some send it via mail. 'This year, there have been many cases we have intercepted. Most involve British and Malaysian nationals. 'It's easy for British citizens to travel as they can enter Thailand and return to the UK without needing a visa. 'Most of the smugglers are people hired to carry the cannabis, similar to how tourists might smuggle tax-free goods. 'They're usually unemployed individuals from the UK. 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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Revealed: Gloating message sent by hackers 'from China' to M&S boss after devastating cyber-attack on British retailer
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The cyber hack over the Easter break has been hugely damaging for British high street staple, M&S, costing an estimated £300million. Six months on from the digital blitz, and the retailer is still unable to take online orders. The hack has cause mayhem for Marks & Spencer meaning it was unable to process online orders. The retailer later warned some customers' personal details had been stolen According to the BBC, the extortion email was sent to Mr Machin and seven other top executives. The blackmail message reportedly included a racist term. It was reportedly ended with an image of a fire-breathing dragon. As well as boasting about installing ransomware to cripple M&S's IT systems, the hackers said they had also stolen the private data of millions of customers. M&S informed customers three weeks later that contact details and dates of births from some shoppers had been snatched by a suspected cyber cartel. 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DragonForce Malaysia - thought to be an offshoot of the main group - is thought to be made up of pro-Palestine 'hacktivists'. They have reportedly been behind several campaigns targeting government agencies and organisations across the Middle East and Asia, filling a void left by hacking collective, Anonymous. Speculation has been mounting that hacking collective, Scattered Spider, may also have been involved in the recent spate of retail cyber attacks. The group, thought to be made up of young English-speaking hackers from the West, might be one of DragonForce's affiliates. The Indian IT worker had an M&S email address, but is a paid TCS employee and based in London. It is believed that he was among the victims hacked during the devastating digital blitzkrieg that has ravaged M&S online systems. The IT company has previously said it is investigating whether it was a gateway for the cyberattack. It has since told the BBC the email was not sent from its system and has nothing to do with the breach. M&S has declined to comment on the latest revelations in the hacking crisis. As well as claiming responsibility for the M&S hack, DragonForce also says it is behind the ongoing cyber-attack against the Co-op. The two hacks took place in April and have wrought chaos for both retailers. Empty shelves in some stores were reported by customers of both businesses, while M&S fears disruption to its services will continue into next month. However, experts believe it could take 'months' for M&S to fully recover from the hack, which wiped a staggering £1billion off the retailer's market value in the weeks after the mayhem. Matt Hull, head of threat intelligence at global cyber security company NCC Group, said the M&S meltdown could potentially have massive ramifications for shoppers. Warning of the impact, Mr Hull told MailOnline: 'The data breach at M&S is a stark reminder that no organisation is completely immune from cyber threats, and that all forms of customer data requires stringent protection.' He added cyber crooks could seek to use the data they have allegedly obtained to launch a fresh wave of attack on countless unsuspecting victims. 'Despite the absence of financial data or passwords, threat actors could potentially use the stolen information to launch targeted social engineering attacks,' he warned. It is unclear who the actual hackers involved in the DragonForce's alleged cyber assault actually are. The incident is being probed digital experts from Britain's own 'FBI', the National Crime Agency. DragonForce reportedly offers cyber-criminal partners various services on their darknet site in exchange for a 20 per cent cut of any ransoms collected. It's believed the group operates worldwide, with connections to countries across Asia, with some operating in China. Researchers believe the group has links to Russia. DragonForce Malaysia - thought to be an offshoot of the main group - is thought to be made up of pro-Palestine 'hacktivists'. They have reportedly been behind several campaigns targeting government agencies and organisations across the Middle East and Asia, filling a void left by hacking collective, Anonymous. Speculation has been mounting that hacking collective, Scattered Spider, may also have been involved in the recent spate of retail cyber attacks. The group, thought to be made up of young English-speaking hackers from the West, might be one of DragonForce's affiliates. Members are known to include teenagers and young adults from the UK and US. A spokeswoman for M&S told MailOnline: 'We cannot comment on details of or speculation on the cyber incident, and we have been advised not to.'
Daily Record
an hour ago
- Daily Record
Chilling new Madeleine McCann theory puts UK man at centre amid drink drive claims
The newspaper said the British sister of the unnamed man at the centre of the new theory tipped off police in the UK in 2018. Following fresh searches in Portugal for Madeleine McCann, a British man is now at the centre of a new theory after being reportedly overheard saying five chilling words by a witness the day after the tot went missing. It was revealed on June 6 that German prosecutors refused to investigate a couple who claimed to have hit Madeleine in a drink-driving accident. The tot vanished on holiday in Portugal on May 3, 2007. According to Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manhã, Portuguese authorities demanded action after receiving a chilling tip-off from a British woman who believed her own brother and his German wife may be hiding the truth about Madeleine's disappearance, reports the Mirror. Investigators in Portugal asked German officials for permission to deploy an undercover officer with a fake identity to get close to the wife - suspected of being behind the wheel of the car that allegedly struck Madeleine, but German authorities reportedly shut the request down. The newspaper said the British sister of the unnamed man at the centre of the new theory tipped off police in the UK in 2018. 'German prosecutors were asked to authorise a covert police operation with someone posing as a friend of the woman's and trying to get her to confess, but the courts refused,' it added. 'It was decided to continue solely with the investigation into suspect Christian Brueckner, rejecting other possibilities.' Describing the mystery couple as 'alcoholics' and placing the British man's wife in a café near the Ocean Club where she had been 'drinking' the night Madeleine went missing from the Algarve resort. Correio da Manha also reported another witness described as the couple's neighbour told police separately she heard the couple rowing the day after the three-year-old disappeared. She said she heard the man repeatedly yelling: 'Why did you bring her?' Portuguese police claim they were shut down by the Germans after urging them to look more closely into the possibility the woman had driven home 'drunk' with Madeleine after hitting her. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Correio said the unnamed British man had now died, but did not say whether his German wife was still alive. In a front page report today, the newspaper claimed: 'The German police refused to co-operate with Portugal's Policia Judiciaria in the investigation of a clue that pointed towards Madeleine McCann being run over. 'In 2018 a British woman went to police in the UK to say she suspected her brother had been involved in the disappearance of the youngster. She said her brother was an alcoholic and since the day Madeleine vanished had appeared to hide a painful secret. 'When British police exchanged information with the PJ, a coincidence was discovered. On May 4 2007 a woman told police she had heard her neighbours arguing. They were both alcoholics, he was English and she was German, and she heard the man shouting repeatedly: 'Why did you bring her?' 'The neighbour discovered afterwards it was the man whose sister had reported him to police and was married to the woman who had been drinking in a café next to the Ocean Club where little Madeleine was staying with her parents and twin siblings. 'Another report the police had indicated that in an identical car to the one the woman was then using, around the time of Madeleine's disappearance, a female and little girl had been seen inside. The PJ concluded she could have run Madeleine over and panicked.' The newspaper also claimed the mystery British man had always 'refused to tell his sister if he had been involved in Madeleine's death' before she alerted the authorities. Portuguese police are yet to respond to the Correio da Manha newspaper report. German police yesterday wrapped up a three-day search on the ground near prime suspect Christian Brueckner's old cottage home close to Praia da Luz where Madeleine disappeared on May 3, 2007.
