A young British woman held in a Sri Lankan prison without charge for the last three weeks could still be months away from a bail hearing after her arrest for allegedly smuggling £1.2m worth of synthetic cannabis, or kush, in her luggage, her lawyer told The Independent.
Charlotte May Lee, 21, a former cabin attendant from south London, was arrested on 12 May at Bandaranaike airport, Colombo, after arriving on a flight from Bangkok. She remains in custody on remand for allegedly carrying 46kg of cannabis in two suitcases.
Her lawyer, senior counsel Sampath Perera, said his client was “coping” as she gets used to her situation, though he would not say she was in “absolutely good condition”. “She is doing OK and adjusting to a completely different and alien environment in a third-world country,” Mr Perera told The Independent, adding that little more could be expected of a young woman in such circumstances.
Ms Lee has denied knowing about the presence of alleged drugs in her luggage. She remains in prison in Negombo, a city just north of the capital, and has yet to be charged as police continue their investigation, Mr Perera said. He said the report would confirm if the contents from her luggage were illegal substances.
“I submitted an application during the last court hearing requesting that the alleged drug substances be sent to the government analyst department for analysis and that the resulting report be submitted to the court.”
The next step in the case would be to file a bail application for Ms Lee, Mr Perera said, but he warned that it could take two to three months to secure release on bail, depending on how the process goes. “She is innocent until proven guilty. The case has got international attention and it has jeopardised the safety and privacy of my client, who is still suspected and not charged,” he said, adding that her family in the UK was “suffering” due to the media attention.
Ms Lee, a former cabin crew member for TUI, has been working as a beautician. She faces up to 25 years in prison if found guilty.
She was reportedly holidaying in Thailand and then came to Sri Lanka as her 30-day visa was about to expire, with the intention of returning to Thailand after it was renewed. She left England for Thailand in late April.
Wearing an all-white dress and with her hands cuffed behind her, Ms Lee was seen for the first time since her arrest at her procedural court appearance on Friday 30 May. She broke down in tears as she stood in the witness box while proceedings took place in the native Sinhalese language.
She will have to appear at court every 14 days as long as she remains in custody on remand, according to Sri Lankan law. Her next hearing is on 13 June.
Ms Lee remains in touch with her family in the UK but she has not yet been allowed “e-visits” that would include video calls with family and friends. Mr Perera said her sister is likely to visit Colombo soon to help sign paperwork to make that happen.
Kush is a synthetic drug that is spreading quickly in west Africa, particularly in Sierra Leone, where it first appeared in 2022 and has since claimed thousands of lives. It is used as a depressant with the promise of a stress-relieving high but contains toxic chemicals such as the opioids tramadol and fentanyl, and formalin, a chemical used in mortuaries to preserve bodies. Cheap and highly addictive, kush is often linked to organised trafficking networks.
Media reports have suggested investigators are considering whether Ms Lee’s case is linked to that of Bella Culley, an 18-year-old from Teesside who is being held in a Georgia prison on suspicion of drug offences. The two were arrested within a day of each other, both having flown out of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport alone.
Ms Culley could face life imprisonment if found guilty of illegally importing drugs to Georgia. Pictures of her alleged drug haul show hermetically sealed packages with the word “hash” written over brown coverings.
In Ms Lee’s case, photographs published by Sri Lanka’s customs narcotics control unit showed the alleged drugs found in her luggage vacuum packed in plastic bags, which they said indicated a professional job.
The Independent has reached out to the British High Commission in Colombo.
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