21-Year-Old Flight Attendant Faces Up to 25 Years in Prison for Smuggling 46kg of Synthetic Cannabis into Sri Lanka

A young British former flight attendant, Charlotte May Lee, 21, from Coulsdon, south London, has appeared in court after being accused of smuggling £1.2 million worth of super-strength cannabis into Sri Lanka.

She was arrested in Colombo when police found 46 kg of ‘Kush,’ a synthetic cannabis strain, in her suitcase.

She had just landed in Sri Lanka’s capital on a flight from Bangkok, Thailand, when she was arrested at Bandaranaike Airport and taken into custody on Monday, May 11.

Today, Charlotte was seen being escorted by police to a prison van outside the court building in Colombo.

She appeared visibly tearful during her court appearance.

The former TUI flight attendant was held in a cell at the back of the courtroom and was briefly brought to the witness box but had difficulty following the proceedings, which were conducted in Sinhalese, the main language of Sri Lanka.

Police also brought the nearly 50kg seizure of cannabis into the courtroom as the investigation into the drug bust continues.

Charlotte is expected to return to court in two weeks.

She faces a potential sentence of up to 25 years in a harsh Sri Lankan prison but maintains that she was set up.

Speaking from behind bars in the women’s section of a notorious prison last week, Miss Lee said she had “no idea” there were drugs in her luggage when she traveled to Sri Lanka.

She said: ‘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.’

And she added: ‘I know who did it.’

Miss Lee explained that she had been working temporarily on a ‘booze cruise’ in Thailand, but with her 30-day visa about to expire, she chose to visit nearby Sri Lanka while waiting for her Thai visa renewal.

She picked Sri Lanka because it was close by—a three-hour flight away—and it was her first time visiting the country.