Latest news with #CustomsNarcoticsControlUnit
NDTV
27-05-2025
- NDTV
UK Woman, 21, Arrested In Sri Lanka For Smuggling Deadly Drug Made From Human Bones
A 21-year-old former flight attendant from the UK is facing up to 25 years in a Sri Lankan prison after being caught allegedly smuggling over 100 pounds (approximately 45 kg) of a deadly new synthetic drug made of human bones. According to the BBC, Charlotte May Lee from south London was arrested earlier this month at Bandaranaike Airport in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo. She was caught allegedly carrying suitcases full of "kush," a new drug originating in West Africa which kills an estimated dozen people a week in Sierra Leone alone. According to the BBC, Ms Lee claimed that the drug stash, which has an estimated street value of $3.3 million (approximately Rs 28 crore), was planted in her suitcases without her knowledge. She is currently being held in a jail north of Colombo, where she has to sleep on a concrete floor. She has been allowed to contact her family. If found guilty, she could face up to 25 years in prison. A senior officer in the Sri Lanka Customs Narcotics Control Unit said the discovery, at Colombo's Bandaranaike Airport, was the largest kush seizure in the airport's history. Ms Lee's lawyer, Sampath Perera, told the BBC that his team was visiting her daily in prison in the city of Negombo to provide support and monitor her well-being. Mr Perera said that the 21-year-old had been working in Thailand when she was forced to leave because her 30-day visa was due to run out, so she decided to take a three-hour flight to Sri Lanka while she waited for the renewal of her Thai visa. "I had never seen them (the drugs) 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," Ms Lee told the Daily Mail. She also implied she knew who had "planted" the drugs in her suitcases, but wouldn't name them. "They must have planted it then. I know who did it," she said. Notably, the drug, dubbed "kush", is made from a variety of toxic substances, with one of its main ingredients being ground-up human bone. The narcotic first emerged in the West African country around seven years ago. It induces a hypnotic high which can last several hours. The drug has become a widespread problem, and dealers have reportedly turned into grave robbers, breaking into thousands of tombs to steal skeletons to keep up with the demands. Last year, Sierra Leone's president also declared a state of emergency over the abuse of kush. "Our country is currently faced with an existential threat due to the ravaging impact of drugs and substance abuse, particularly the devastating synthetic drug Kush," Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio said at the time. Mr Bio added that there had been "escalating fatalities" among the drug users. He also said that he has set up a task force to eradicate the drug. This means there will be centres in every district "adequately staffed by trained professionals to offer care and support to people with drug addiction," he said.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
British woman held in Sri Lanka on drug offences
A British woman has been arrested in Sri Lanka after police allegedly found 101lbs (46kg) of the synthetic drug kush in her suitcase. Custom officers posed for pictures with bags of drugs they accuse Charlotte May Lee, 21, from south London, of attempting to smuggle into the country earlier this month. The former flight attendant denies knowing there were drugs in her suitcase and says she believes they were planted there. Ms Lee is being held in a prison north of the south Asian country's capital, Colombo, and is contact with her family, her lawyer told the BBC. She could face up to 25 years in prison if found guilty. Her legal representative, Sampath Perera, told the BBC his team was visiting her daily in prison in the city of Negombo, to provide support and monitor her wellbeing. A senior officer in the Sri Lanka Customs Narcotics Control Unit said the seizure at Colombo's Bandaranaike Airport on 5 May was the biggest in its history. Ms Lee told Mail Online on Wednesday: "I had never seen them [the drugs] 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." She told the paper she had been in Thailand's capital, Bangkok, prior to the flight, and packed her suitcase in her hotel room before heading out for the night. "They must have planted it then," she said. "I know who did it." She did not check her bag again before heading to Colombo, where she was arrested on 12 May, said Ms Lee. Ms Lee went to Sri Lanka as her visa was about to expire and she wanted a trip somewhere nearby before heading back to Thailand, she told the newspaper. She added that she faces harsh conditions in the prison, including sleeping on a concrete floor. Ms Lee is said to have flown from Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport around the same time as another British woman, Bella Culley, 18, from Billingham, County Durham, who is being held in Georgia on suspicion of drug offences. The BBC understands Miss Culley arrived in Tbilisi on a flight from the United Arab Emirates on 10 May. Three days later Georgia's Ministry of Internal Affairs said Miss Culley was accused of "illegally purchasing and storing a particularly large amount of narcotics, illegally purchasing and storing the narcotic drug marijuana, and illegally importing it into Georgia". A senior customs officer in Sri Lanka told the BBC: "On the same day, another passenger who had left Bangkok airport, almost at the same time, was arrested in another country. We arrested this lady [Ms Lee] based on profiling." He said there had been a massive increase in drugs coming via Bangkok into Sri Lanka. "This has been a real nuisance." Ms Culley could face up to 20 years in jail or life imprisonment if found guilty. She is being detained before trial while Georgian authorities investigate where 26lbs (12kg) of marijuana and 4.4lbs (2kg) of hashish found in a travel bag came from, and whether she was planning on handing it over to someone else.
