Latest news with #smuggling
CTV News
9 hours ago
- General
- CTV News
Suspicious activity on the waterways? Here's what to do:
If you've noticed suspicious activity on the local waterways, the Windsor Port Authority and Crime Stoppers want to hear from you. They are partnering to get more tips on the Detroit River, Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie to help keep the waterways secure. 'We want to make port security public security in the forefront and we're asking people to step forward and say, 'I see something, it just doesn't seem right,'' said harbour master Peter Berry. He said it will help get more of the evidence back to the police. Crime Stoppers and Port Authority Crime Stoppers and Windsor Port Authority on the Detroit River in Windsor, Ont. (Melanie Kentner/CTV News Windsor) There are specific activities regarding boats to be on the lookout for. 'The most common is looking for a boat to shore and doesn't look like it's a normal boater. Or they're coming into a place that very unusual, like the centre of the park in downtown Windsor or other areas, abandoned properties, vacant properties.' Other suspicious actions include were boat lands and several people get off, and you start to see a lot of hockey bags being thrown off a boat. 'Really good chance that's smuggling occurring in front of you,' he said. The port authority and Crime Stoppers are releasing photos of suspicious boats seen in the area. Suspicious boat A suspicious boat on the Detroit River (Source: Windsor Port Authority) 'They've been brought over and used for smuggling and then abandoned. One of the boats was used to move people. The other boat was used, we believe, to bring guns over into the Windsor area. And both those boats were found in the downtown and west Windsor,' said Berry. Berry said it's not unusual to see boats here, but it's very unusual to see a boat with nobody near it, especially if it's dropped on the shoreline. He said smuggling is also an issue on the river - human smuggling, drug smuggling and gun smuggling. 'Of course the human smuggling side, you'll see a jet ski you go by. It's got a three person seat and the people in the back are fully clothed in jeans and jackets. Very unusual to be on a sea-doo with people dressed like that.' Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or
Daily Mail
15 hours ago
- General
- Daily Mail
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
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.
CNA
17 hours ago
- General
- CNA
Sri Lanka seizes largest cocaine haul at main airport
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's customs authorities arrested on Friday (May 30) a woman and seized the largest haul of cocaine ever detected at the country's main international airport, an official said. The unnamed 38-year-old Thai woman was carrying nearly 10kg of cocaine stuffed into three soft toys, Customs Additional Director-General Seevali Arukgoda said. "This is the biggest attempt at cocaine smuggling stopped by Sri Lanka Customs at the airport," Arukgoda said in a statement. Customs officials at Bandaranaike International Airport posed for photos with the cocaine, which had been neatly stuffed into just over 500 plastic capsules, with an estimated street value of US$1.72 million. The seizure follows three other hauls this month totalling nearly 60kg of synthetic cannabis. Three foreign nationals – from Britain, India, and Thailand – were arrested in separate cases. The Briton, identified as Charlotte May Lee, 21, a former cabin crew member from London, was produced before a magistrate on Friday and further remanded until June 13, court officials said. She was arrested on May 12 when officials discovered that her two suitcases were packed with 46kg of kush, a synthetic drug. All four suspects, including the Thai woman arrested on Friday, could face life imprisonment if convicted. Sri Lankan authorities have previously seized large quantities of heroin off the country's shores, suggesting the island is being used as a transit hub for narcotics destined for other locations. In October, a Sri Lankan court sentenced 10 Iranian men to life imprisonment after they pleaded guilty to smuggling more than 111kg of heroin. In 2023, nine Iranians received life sentences in a separate drug smuggling case. Sri Lanka's largest single seizure of narcotics occurred in December 2016, when Customs found 800kg of cocaine in a transhipment container of timber addressed to a company in neighbouring India.
Telegraph
18 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
France stops fewer Channel migrants, despite Sunak agreement
France is intercepting fewer Channel migrants than at any time since the first small boats arrived, despite a £480 million funding deal with Britain to help stop crossings, figures suggest. It has stopped 8,347 asylum seekers from reaching UK waters in small boats so far this year, while 13,167 have so far crossed – meaning that just over 38 per cent have been intercepted. That is down from an estimated 45 per cent last year, 46.9 per cent in 2023 and 42.4 per cent in 2022, the record year when 45,774 people reached the UK and 33,791 were prevented from doing so by France. The fall in interceptions comes despite a three-year, £480 million Anglo-French deal agreed by Rishi Sunak in March 2023 to double officers patrolling beaches to 800, set up a joint command centre and a detention centre to stop migrants leaving France. It coincides with a change in tactics by people-smugglers, who have used 'taxi boats' that remain in the water and collect migrants from beaches in northern France. The strategy allows smugglers to evade capture, forcing police to conduct rescue operations rather than arrest the perpetrators. Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, has also suggested that the number of crossings – up 30 per cent this year on the same point last year – have surged because of the higher number of good weather 'red days' so far. Ministers believe a series of legal changes in France and Germany will stem the flow of migrants. The French government has amended laws so police can stop boats at sea for the first time. It will enable police to use their own boats in shallow waters to take on people-smugglers carrying migrants in overloaded vessels. French ministers are also planning to restore the offence of an 'illegal stay' in France, which would allow the police to arrest migrants and smugglers before they attempt a crossing. Currently, migrants who attempt to cross the Channel are only considered to have committed an offence when they launch the boat. Germany, where many migrant boats are stored before being deployed to the French coast, is also tightening its laws to make it easier to prosecute those helping to smuggle migrants to the UK. Facilitating people-smuggling is not currently technically illegal in Germany if it is to a third country outside the EU, which includes the UK following Brexit. Under the new agreement, Germany has pledged to make the activity a clear criminal offence. 'France is in breach of international law' A Home Office spokesman said: 'We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security. 'The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die as long as they pay, and we will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice. That is why this Government has put together a serious plan to take down these networks at every stage. 'Through international intelligence sharing under our Border Security Command, enhanced enforcement operations in northern France and tougher legislation in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, we are strengthening international partnerships and boosting our ability to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal gangs whilst strengthening the security of our borders.' However, Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: 'France is in breach of its international law obligations to stop illegal migration. Stopping under 40 per cent of illegal immigrants attempting to cross is pathetic. Even the 40 per cent stopped are simply let go by the French, and they just attempt to cross the next day instead.' Tony Smith, a former Border Force director general, said: 'The figures on French preventions are disappointing given the investment we are making in resourcing their activities there. 'Promises to introduce maritime interventions even in shallow waters have come to nothing – and allowing boats to continue their journeys even after corpses are removed from what is a potential crime scene is totally unacceptable. 'Also, the French policy of handing out life jackets is a clear signal that they have little interest in preventing asylum seekers from putting their lives at risk by crossing the Channel. 'On the contrary, once the boats have launched, their policy is to do all they can to facilitate their passage to UK waters rather than rescue them and take them back to France, where their safety could be assured.'
BBC News
18 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
British woman accused of drug offences appears in Sri Lanka court
A British woman accused of attempting to smuggle a large quantity of cannabis into Sri Lanka has appeared in court in the May Lee, 21, from south London, was arrested earlier this month after authorities allegedly found 46kg of the drug in her suitcases when she arrived on a flight from Thailand. She has not yet been charged, but has previously denied knowing the alleged drugs were in her luggage. If found guilty, she could face up to 25 years behind to the BBC from prison before her court appearance, Ms Lee said she had travelled from Bangkok to the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo to renew her Thai visa. The former flight attendant arrived at Negombo Magistrate's Court on Friday wearing a white knee-length dress, her long hair parted to the side. She was making a procedural court appearance while the investigation into her alleged offences continues. Ms Lee was held in a cell at the back of the courtroom before being brought to the witness box. She was visibly upset as she stood with her hands crossed behind her back, facing the wheeled in a large brown box containing the alleged 46kg of cannabis found in Ms Lee's luggage. The narcotics division of the Sri Lanka police told the court they intend to file an update on the investigation. Ms Lee's lawyer, Sampath Perera, asked if the alleged drugs had been examined by the relevant government authorities to ascertain if the materials were in fact an illegal substance. The magistrate ordered it to be tested and for a report to be submitted to the court as soon as possible. Speaking to the BBC from a prison an hour outside of Colombo, Ms Lee appeared to be in good spirits. She described her living conditions, saying she shares a cell with five other women and sleeps on a thin mattress on the concrete floor, using whatever clothes she has as a pillow. That is where she spends most of her day, she said, although she does get to go outside for fresh air."I can't compare it to anything," she said. "I have never been to prison and I've never been to Sri Lanka. This heat and just sitting on a concrete floor all of the time."Ms Lee said she tries not to dwell too much on her current predicament."I am not trying to think about it. If I think, then I feel bad. I'll still rather not process it."Ms Lee said she is concerned for the other women who are also in prison."There are people from so many different countries who have been here for two years, two-and-a-half years. And it's still just waiting and no-one actually knows anything."She has managed to find other English-speaking women with whom she has developed a kinship. But she has not been able to speak with her family since her to the BBC from outside the courthouse after the hearing, Mr Perera said the next step is to make a bail application for Ms Lee, which could take three Sri Lankan law, people being held on remand must appear before a judge every 14 days. Ms Lee is being held on suspicion of keeping illegal drugs in her possession and drug smuggling. Her next court appearance will be on 13 July. Additional reporting by Charlotte Scarr
