Jordan Benoit, 34, and James Calder, 33, were arrested and charged with possession and supply after allegedly peddling MDMA, ketamine and ecstasy in Dhermi, Albania
Two British men could each face up to 15 years in a hellhole Albanian prison after they were charged with drug dealing.
Jordan Benoit, 34, and James Calder, 33, were allegedly peddling MDMA, ketamine and ecstasy at the Kala music festival in the idyllic seaside resort of Dhermi. Video footage shows cops searching a Mitsubishi vehicle owned by the pair in an operation codenamed Cocktail. They also raided a property the duo were renting in the village and allegedly found 52 doses of MDMA, 51 of ketamine, 120 ecstasy pills and €6,185 (£5,264) and £720 in cash, plus four mobiles.
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Benoit and Calder, from London, were arrested and charged with possession and supply. A judge remanded them in custody at a hearing last week.
The penalty in Albania for supplying drugs is up to 15 years in prison, according to the UK government. Around 4,000 Brits attend the annual dance music festival, this year headlined by London jazz group the Ezra Collective from June 4 to 11.
The Albanian authorities say the beautiful coastal region is becoming awash with drugs over the summer. Police chief Elidon Cela said their fight against narcotics “intensifies during the tourist season”.
Speaking to The Mirror he said: “In addition to local criminal elements, foreign tourist flows are bringing criminal elements who bring synthetic narcotics into our country with the intent of distributing them to tourists.”
The charges come amid a glut of Brits thrown in foreign prisons on drug charges in recent weeks. In Thailand alone, more than 50 have been arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle cannabis in the last 12 months. And three are facing the death penalty in Bali accused of trafficking.
Last month Bella Culley, 18, from Teesside, allegedly tried to smuggle a suitcase of weed into Georgia. Ex-air stewardess Charlotte May Lee, 21, from South London, has been sharing a prison cell with five other women after she was allegedly caught with 46kg of the drug in her cases in Sri Lanka.
And 21-year-old mum Cameron Bradford, from Knebworth, Herts, was detained at Munich Airport on suspicion of travelling with cannabis from Thailand.