A young British woman accused of trying to smuggle £1.2million of drugs into Sri Lanka has been remanded in custody and may have to wait a year to learn her fate, according to reports.
Charlotte May Lee, 21, from Coulsdon, south London, was arrested in the capital Colombo last week after police discovered 46kg of ‘Kush’ – a synthetic strain of cannabis – in her suitcase.
Weeping as a court told her she would be remanded in custody, Miss Lee was also told she may not be tried for another 12 months, The Sun reports.
She has been told that she could face up to 25 years in Welikada Prison, a tough maximum security jail, if convicted.
The former cabin crew worker has also reportedly been told she can no longer use her phone to contact her loved ones.
Miss Lee had just landed in Sri Lanka on a flight from Bangkok when she was arrested at Bandaranaike Airport and taken to custody last Monday.
She has since been held in Negombo Prison, north of the capital, while she waits for her trial date to be set.
Speaking to MailOnline from behind bars in the woman’s ward of the notorious prison, Miss Lee said she had ‘no idea’ that there were drugs in her luggage when she set off for Sri Lanka.
Charlotte May Lee, 21, from Coulsdon, south London, was arrested in the capital Colombo last week, but insists she has been set up. Pictured: Miss Lee speaks with MailOnline from behind bars
A British woman facing years locked in a grim Sri Lankan jail after being caught with £1.2 million worth of cannabis has told of her despair
Pictured: Welikada Prison in Colombo where British woman Charlotte May-Lee will be sent if convicted of drug smuggling
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,’ she said, and added: ‘I know who did it.’
Miss Lee told MailOnline she had been working temporarily on a ‘booze cruise’ in Thailand but her 30-day visa was about to run out so she decided to take a trip to nearby Sri Lanka while she waited for her Thai visa to be renewed.
She decided to go to the country because it was relatively nearby – only a three-hour flight away – and she had never visited there before.
‘I thought while I was waiting for the visa that I’d come to Sri Lanka.
‘They [the people she believed planted the drugs] were supposed to meet me here. But now I’m here – stuck in this jail.’
On Sunday she was brought to Negombo Magistrates Court where she was given remanded in custody for a further 14 days while she awaits further hearings.
At this point she was transferred to Negombo Prison, where she still remains.
