A woman from south London facing years locked in Sri Lankan jail after being caught with £1.2 million worth of cannabis has suggested she was set up.
Charlotte May Lee, 21, from Coulsdon in Croydon, was arrested in Colombo last week after police allegedly discovered 46 kg of “Kush” in her suitcase.
The former cabin crew worker had just arrived in the Sri Lankan capital on a flight from Thailand’s capital Bangkok when she was arrested at Bandaranaike Airport and taken into custody on Monday, May 11.
Customs officers said the stash was the largest amount of Kush ever to be detected at the airport since its opening in 1967.
She is being held at the mixed-sex Negombo Prison, north of Colombo, while she waits to hear her fate after spending a week sleeping on a bug-infested sofa at the local force’s Narcotics Bureau.
On Sunday, Miss Lee was brought to Negombo Magistrates’ where she was remanded in custody for a further 14 days while awaiting further hearings.
In court, Miss Lee was accused of two charges, one of possessing illegal drugs and another of importing illegal drugs into the country.
Speaking about her “awful” ordeal, Miss Lee said she had “no idea” that there were synthetic drugs in her luggage.
The trainee eyelash technician also accused prison officers of refusing to hand over her ADHD medication and revealed she has not eaten for two days because the food is “too spicy”.
She told MailOnline: “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.”
Miss Lee revealed she had been working on a “booze cruise” in Thailand but her 30-day visa was about to expire so she decided to take a trip to nearby Sri Lanka while she waited for her visa to be renewed.
She added: '”They (the people she believed planted the drugs) were supposed to meet me here (in Thailand) . But now I'm here, stuck in this jail.
“I am trying my best to stay positive because what else can you do? I feel as though I have no human rights here.
“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.
I feel as though I have no human rights here
“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.”
She added: “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.”
Negombo Prison has been described as “hell” for women, with maggots being reportedly found in food and rats scuttling around overcrowded cells.
According to Miss Lee's friends, she has been trying to post updates on her plight on Snapchat.
One friend, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “I couldn't believe it. Charlotte is a hard worker and a grafter not a drug smuggler.”
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are supporting a British woman who has been arrested in Sri Lanka and are in contact with her family and the local authorities.”
