Father of drugs mule suspect Bella Culley makes vow to daughter while she is held in Georgia - as fears grow Thai gangs are targeting British girls
The father of drug arrest teenager Bella Culley has vowed to stay in Georgia for 'as long as it takes' - as organised crime experts fear British backpackers are being targeted by the Thai cartel.
Niel Culley, 49, has still not been able to visit the 18-year-old despite jetting out to the Black Sea nation as soon as news broke of her arrest last Tuesday night.
He is facing every parent's worst nightmare as he battles to get information on how Bella allegedly came to be in possession of 14kg of cannabis and hash.
Mr Culley, an offshore oil rig technician who lives in Vietnam, is being supported by his sister Kerrie Culley, 51, in Tbilisi.
'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.'
It comes as a second arrest of a British national allegedly smuggling cannabis out of Thailand has raised fears UK backpackers are being targeted by drug gangs in the country.
Air stewardess Charlotte May Lee, 21, was detained at Colombo airport in Sri Lanka on Monday where police say she had a stash of £1.15million of kush - a synthetic strain of the drug.
She left Bangkok Airport within hours of Bella who was arrested entering Tbilisi Airport on a flight via Sharjah, UAE, last Sunday. It means they could be related cases.
Former Georgian police general Jemal Janashia, one of the country's foremost drug crime experts, 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 girls departed from the Thai capital during the Royal Ploughing Ceremony weekend. It is one of the busiest festivals of the year when airports are overloaded with tourists - a prime opportunity for gangs to try to push through mules.
The two arrests also follow a huge crackdown on smugglers sending cannabis to the UK by post.
A joint operation by both countries has seen a 90 per cent in reduction in the drug being mailed to Britain since last year.
It suggests Thai gangs may now be reverting to using drug mules to ship their products instead - and targeting British backpackers.
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.'
Thailand decriminalised cannabis in 2022 which sparked a massive rise in the narcotic being posted to the UK.
In the last quarter of last year Border Force detected 15 tonnes of the drug which was threatening to overwhelm resources.
They established a new agreement with counterparts in Bangkok requiring Thailand to check mail before being shipped, which stopped 1.5tonnes in the first quarter of this year - a 90 per cent drop.
It raises the terrifying prospect that Thai gangs are now looking for alternative means to get the drug out of the country.
Some 800 people including 50 British nationals have been arrested in Thailand for attempted smuggling since July 2024 with over nine tonnes of cannabis seized.
Bella was arrested at Tbilisi Airport on May 11 and found with 12kg of cannabis and 2kg of hashish after getting a £550 Air Arabia flight from Bangkok via Sharjah.
She first appeared in Tbilisi city court on May 13 which was broadcast locally and word finally reached her family the following day.
Georgian bureaucracy has blocked her father and auntie from visiting Bella who is languishing in notorious Women's Penitentiary Number 5 just outside of Tbilisi.
They might not be granted their first visit until Wednesday - and Bella's lawyer has still not been told how she came to be in possession of the drugs.
Mr Janashia has advised her to cooperate. 'I feel sorry for this woman because she was clearly used and manipulated. She's 18, she's a foreigner, pregnant,' he said.
'All of this indicates that she was chosen deliberately, chosen carefully, she was studied. Whoever chose her, they knew what they were doing.'
He added: '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.
'Then a plea bargain should be reached, her profile does not strike me as one of a drug trafficker, she might be a user but I suppose we will find out soon enough.
'But it does not look like she has any previous experience in drug trafficking.
'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.'
Asked whether his message to Bella was to tell the police everything she knows, he replied: 'Of course.'
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