How Thai gangsters are luring naive Brit teens like Bella into drug mule trade in exchange for boozy paradise holidays
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THAI gangs are turning more and more British backpackers into drug mules, law enforcement authorities have warned.
The cases of trafficking suspects Bella Culley, 18, and Charlotte Lee, 21, ramped up fears gangs have launched unprecedented recruitment drives in search of huge profits.
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Teenager Bella Culley went missing in Thailand two weeks ago
Credit: Social media - Refer to source
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She since emerged in the ex-Soviet state of Georgia, and now faces life in prison after being accused of hiding drugs in her luggage
Credit: East2West
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Charlotte May Lee from Surrey flew from the same airport as Bella, and is being held in a Sri Lanka prison having been accused of smuggling £1.2million worth of drugs
And experts believe the twin arrests within hours of each other could herald a future flood - leaving parents across the UK facing their worst nightmares.
Gangs run by British criminals based in Thailand have for years relied on postal deliveries of drug stashes from the Far East but have been rocked by a crackdown.
And they are now tempting potential mules with free paradise holidays, unlimited booze, drugs and a £2,000 payout if they agree to carry their illicit wares back home.
Kingpins based in hotspots including Thailand's Koh Samui are offering bigger rewards than ever to vulnerable and impressionable youngsters after profit margins rocketed.
Since cannabis was legalised in Thailand in 2018 it has become so cheap on the streets that gangs who export to the UK can make an astonishing 3,000 per cent mark-up.
British and Thai authorities joined forces to launch the Operation Chaophraya anti-mule drive last July and have been stunned by the scale of the recruitment campaign.
An incredible 800 people - including 50 Britons - have been held in Thailand for alleged drug smuggling since last July, with more than nine tons of cannabis seized.
In March a series of arrests at Koh Samui Airport exposed a sophisticated cannabis smuggling operation using mostly British tourists to ferry suitcases of narcotics.
Over four days immigration police arrested 13 foreign nationals attempting to smuggle £1.7 million to the UK - where it would have been peddled for far higher prices.
Investigators have revealed Thai gangs are now routinely attempting to confuse border officials by using fresh-faced Brits who fly to other countries before carrying drugs back home.
Brit 'drug smuggler' Bella Culley 'starving' in ex-Soviet hell prison - as she reveals pregnancy craving to celeb lawyer
Teenage travellers of the Instagram generation are being dazzled by the faux glamour of the luxury lifestyle offered by manipulative gangsters.
And too many are blind to the enormous, potentially life-changing risks they are taking, law enforcement chiefs say.
Banged up
Bubbly backpacker Bella jetted off for fun in the sun then left her family frantic with worry when she went missing in Thailand two weeks ago.
But there was little celebration when she was found - 4,000 miles away from the Thai capital in a court in the ex-Soviet state of Georgia accused of attempting to smuggle cannabis worth £200,000.
Bella, of Billingham, County Durham, is facing a sentence of up to life in prison.
She went on to tell the court tearfully that she was having a baby.
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Bella tearfully told the court she is expecting a baby
Credit: Social media - Refer to source
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Her family believe she flew to Thailand to meet a mystery man who may be linked to a drug mule operation
Credit: @bellamay.xx/TikTok
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Pictures from Georgian broadcasters show the drug Bella is accused of smuggling
Credit: Unpixs
Her family say she flew to the Far East on holiday to meet a mystery man - believed to be the baby's father - called 'Ross or Russ'.
He introduced her to Brits from the north west of England suspected of running drug mules from Thailand.
The naive teenager joked online with the mystery man of 'Bonnie and Clyde' hijinks in the Far East while showing off cash wads and was pictured smoking a spliff.
It's hard to imagine what Bella's dad Niel (ckd) must be feeling right now as he battles red tape trying to find out how on earth his daughter wound up in Tbilisi, pregnant and in jail.
I've spoken to him several times and can see he's a man at his wit's end in a situation made worse by his inability to make sense of it.
The 49-year-old oil rig electrician looks haunted as he paces around outside his hotel in the picture postcard capital waiting for news while puffing on cigarettes.
He wants answers but is being advised by the British Embassy to speak to no one and appears totally baffled by his daughter's plight.
Evidence has already emerged that a major mule recruitment drive is underway
UK-based source
His only legal point of contact so far is Georgian 'taxi rank' legal aid lawyer Ia Todua.
At the time of writing, it's believed Bella has yet to explain how or why she got here to her own lawyer - let alone her family.
Celebrity lawyer Mariam Kublashvili - a former contestant of Georgia's Strictly Come Dancing - saw Bella face-to-face in jail on Monday and came out convinced she the youngster is a "victim" and has been manipulated.
Terrifying fate
Bella's flight took off from the same Bangkok airport within hours of another pretty British trafficking suspect arrested with £1.2 million of a cannabis-related drug in Sri Lanka.
Former air stewardess Charlotte May Lee, 21, was in a gruesome Sri Lankan jail cell last night awaiting a court appearance.
It's still unclear whether this is the fate that has befallen Bella or Charlotte as both languish in cells.
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Former air stewardess Charlotte, 21, could be sent to the country's notorious maximum security prison which is severely overcrowded
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She is accused of smuggling 46kg of kush
Credit: Police Handout
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Bella, meanwhile, is currently being held in a hell hole ex-Soviet prison in the country's capital
Credit: .
But inquiries I've made since arriving to work on the story should serve as a warning to all young British trippers looking for backpacking adventures in the Far East.
Every young Brit abroad in the holiday hotspots this summer should take heed and be wary of strangers offering gifts - and promises of free fun that seem too good to be true.
A crime source based in the UK with knowledge of the growing threat told me: 'Evidence has already emerged that a major mule recruitment drive is underway.
'Young people from the UK are being targeted with the aim of reaching the UK after stopping off at European destinations en route to cover their tracks.
'And they are being offered more tempting rewards than ever as the gangs target bigger profits.
'We can't stop backpackers travelling and having fun but they should be careful who they talk to and never carry bags or packages onto planes for anyone.
'No matter how much they're offered - it won't be worth spending 20 years regretting it in a hellhole prison.'
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