Charlotte May Lee was arrested after stepping off SriLankan Airlines Flight UL 405 at Bandaranaike International Airport after staff allegedly discovered a stash of synthetic “kush” cannabis
Police insist former TUI flight attendant Charlotte May Lee – arrested on suspicion of trying to smuggle 101lb (46kg) cannabis into Sri Lanka – is “in a lot of trouble”.
The British woman faces up to 25 years in a tough maximum-security jail in Sri Lanka if she is convicted of drug smuggling. Staff at Bandaranaike International Airport allegedly found the stash of synthetic “kush” cannabis in Lee’s luggage, said to be the largest haul ever discovered at the hub in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo.
While the investigation continues, a police source told reporters: “This woman is in a lot of trouble and will not help herself by failing to tell the truth… The investigation is only just beginning and we will be looking closely at her previous visit, who she was with and where she went.”
The remarks allude to the part-time beautician’s previous claims the drugs were planted in her suitcase. Lee, aged 21, spoke this week from behind bars at the notorious jail, telling reporters: “I know who did it”.
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But Mail Online reports police’s allegations Lee has changed her account since her first interrogation at the airport, to which she had flown from Thailand. She had reportedly said a British man – someone she had spent just three days with in the Thai holiday resort of Koh Phi Phi – must be to blame for the illegal haul. However, it is understood Lee claimed not to know the man’s surname, where he comes from in the UK, or even to have his phone number.
As the stalemate appears to continue in Sri Lanka, concern for Lee back home grows. A friend in Coulsdon, south London, where the woman grew up, said: “Her mental state is fragile. She’s vulnerable. She’s a silly 21-year-old but not silly enough to do something like this… She was trained as Tui cabin crew. She knew the risks.”
Lee, the daughter of a roofer, is believed to also told police the mystery man also provided and packed her suitcases and gave her cash for the airline’s excess baggage fee, allegedly telling her that one of the pieces of luggage she checked in held his own clothes and belongings.
Speaking to the Mail Online earlier this week, she had said the first time she saw the “kush” was when the staff at the airport opened her bag. The former flight attendant added: “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.”
Lee is also said to be “aware” of the recent case involving 18-year-old Bella May Culley, who was detained at Tbilisi Airport, Georgia this month for allegedly carrying 14kg of cannabis in her bag.