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Ex-flight attendant facing extreme prison sentence after allegedly smuggling deadly drug 'made of humans bones' into country

Home> News> World News

Published 09:30 26 May 2025 GMT+1

Ex-flight attendant facing extreme prison sentence after allegedly smuggling deadly drug 'made of humans bones' into country

Charlotte May Lee, 21, has claimed the drugs were planted on her

Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck

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A British woman has been arrested in Sri Lanka on suspicion of carrying 46kg of drugs into the country.

Earlier this month, Charlotte May Lee was arrested and detained on suspicion of smuggling 46 kilograms of drugs into Sri Lanka.

The 21-year-old former flight attendant from South London was stopped at Colombo Bandaranaike International Airport and over $1.6 million worth of the synthetic cannabis strain kush - which can reportedly be made with 'human bones' - was allegedly discovered in her suitcases.

Lee has denied the accusations, with her lawyer claiming the drugs were planted without her knowledge.

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Charlotte May Lee was arrested in Sri Lanka (Facebook/ Charlotte May Lee)
Charlotte May Lee was arrested in Sri Lanka (Facebook/ Charlotte May Lee)

What have authorities said?

A statement from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office 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.”

A senior customs officer in Sri Lanka also told the BBC: "Another passenger who had left Bangkok airport, almost at the same time, was arrested in another country. We arrested this lady [Ms Lee] based on profiling."

If found guilty, The Telegraph reports that Lee could face up to 25 years in prison.

And Lee's lawyers have since spoken out too.

She is reportedly in contact with her family (Facebook/ Charlotte May Lee)
She is reportedly in contact with her family (Facebook/ Charlotte May Lee)

What have Lee's lawyers said?

A legal representative reportedly told the BBC that Lee remains in prison in the city of Negombo.

She's said to be in contact with her family and is being visited daily.

Lee herself told Mail Online: "I had never seen them [the drugs] 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."

And Lee isn't the only young British woman to have been arrested this month on suspicion of drug offences.

Charlotte May Lee isn't the only young British woman to have been arrested abroad on suspicion of drug offences recently (Facebook/ Charlotte May Lee)
Charlotte May Lee isn't the only young British woman to have been arrested abroad on suspicion of drug offences recently (Facebook/ Charlotte May Lee)

Bella May Culley reported missing by her family while backpacking in Thailand before later being found in Georgia on May 10.

The 18-year-old was later discovered after being arrested at Tbilisi International Airport, Georgia.

It's reported by local media she was allegedly in possession of '34 hermetically sealed packages containing marijuana … as well as 20 packages of hashish'.

The Georgian interior ministry said in a statement: "B.K, born in 2006, is charged with illegally purchasing and storing a particularly large amount of narcotics, illegally purchasing and storing the narcotic drug marijuana, and illegally importing it into Georgia.

"The committed crime envisions up to 20 years - or life imprisonment."

A lawyer who spoke to the teen told The Sun that she believes she's been 'used and manipulated'.

Featured Image Credit: Instagram/charlottemaylee

Topics: World News, Drugs, Travel

Poppy Bilderbeck
Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck is a freelance journalist with words in Daily Express, Cosmopolitan UK, LADbible, UNILAD and Tyla. She is a former Senior Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from The University of Manchester in 2021 with a First in English Literature and Drama, where alongside her studies she was Editor-in-Chief of The Tab Manchester. Poppy is most comfortable when chatting about all things mental health, is proving a drama degree is far from useless by watching and reviewing as many TV shows and films as possible.

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