British ‘drug mule’ had ‘never seen’ £1,200,000 of Kush in luggage

Inside maggot-infested 'hellhole' prison where a young Brit air stewardess faces being locked up after she 'smuggled 100lb of synthetic cannabis into Sri Lanka': Inmates tell of being treated 'less than human' Charlotte May Lee, 21, from Coulsdon, south London,
Charlotte May Lee spoke from behind bars in Sri Lanka (Picture: MOL)

The British woman accused of smuggling £1.2 million of Kush said she has ‘no idea’ how the drugs ended up in her luggage, and complained about the ‘spicy’ prison food.

Charlotte May Lee, 21, from south London, has been held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, for more than a week after the discovery in her suitcases.

Her detention came within 24 hours of another UK woman, Bella May Culley, being arrested at an airport in Georgia for trying to smuggle 14kg of cannabis.

46g of Kush – a synthetic form of cannabis – was found concealed in Charlotte’s luggage.

‘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,’ Charlotte told Mail Online.

‘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,’ she claimed.

10/05/2025 Picture by Tim Clarke for MailOnline Welikada Prison in Colombo where British woman Charlotte May-Lee will be sent if convicted of drug smuggling. She was found to be in possession of over 40kg of Kush having travelled from Bangkok.
She will be sent to infamous Welikada Prison if convicted (Picture: Tim Clarke)
Charlotte May Lee, a British former TUI cabin crew member who has been arrested in a Sri Lankan airport after ?1.15m of cannabis was allegedly found in her luggage.
Previous photos showed her smiling at pubs and restaurants (Picture: Facebook)

The former flight attendant also said she knows who planted the drugs on her.

‘They [the people she believed planted the drugs] were supposed to meet me here. But now I’m here – stuck in this jail,’ she added.

Charlotte is being held in a small women’s wing of Negombo Prison in Sri Lanka, where she said she doesn’t have a bed and sleeps on a concrete floor with her ‘jumper as a pillow.’

‘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,’ Charlotte said.

‘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.’

The Briton has been able to speak with some of the women held on her wing who speak English, and even shared biscuits with them.

Charlotte May Lee - drugs mule
Authorities said it was one of the largest seizures made of Kush (Picture: Sri Lanka Police)
18/05/2025 Picture research Tim Clarke for MailOnline Facebook pictures of Charlotte May Lee, the British girl accused of smuggling drugs into Sri Lanka
The Briton jetted off to Sri Lanka while waiting for a new visa in Thailand (Picture: Tim Clarke)

A friend said Charlotte had been travelling in Thailand for her 21st birthday last month.

She was said to have returned to the UK briefly before jetting off again. Relatives said she had spoken vaguely about meeting a man in Thailand, having recently gone through a difficult break-up.

Although they were thousands of miles apart, Bella May Culley and Charlotte were arrested within a day of each other.

Both had flown from the same airport in Thailand, having reportedly travelled there to meet a mysterious male acquaintance.

Both are now accused of acting as drugs mules for organised crime gangs.

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