A 21-year-old British woman has been arrested on suspicion of smuggling 46 kilograms of a deadly new synthetic drug, reportedly made from human bones and primarily shipped and consumed in West Africa, into Sri Lanka.
Charlotte May Lee was allegedly caught with suitcases packed full of the narcotic, known as “kush,” at Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport earlier this month. Officials report that the confiscated stash has a street value of approximately £1.5 million.
A former flight attendant from south London, Ms. Lee has denied the allegations, claiming that the drugs were planted in her luggage without her knowledge. If convicted, she faces a sentence of up to 25 years in prison.
Currently, she is detained in a prison in Negombo, north of Sri Lanka’s capital, where she has described facing difficult conditions, including sleeping on a concrete floor. Her legal team visits her daily to monitor her wellbeing, and she remains in contact with her family.
Lee, who had been in Bangkok prior to her travel to Sri Lanka due to a visa expiration, stated that she packed her bags the night before the flight, insisting that someone “must have planted” the drugs. In an interview with MailOnline, she said, “I know who did it,” but provided no further details. She remarked, “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.”
A senior customs officer indicated a notable increase in drug smuggling into Sri Lanka from Bangkok, calling it a “real nuisance.” The officer added, “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.”
Kush, a relatively new synthetic narcotic, is predominantly used in West Africa and is linked to approximately a dozen deaths each week in Sierra Leone alone. The drug, usually consumed by males aged 18 to 25, can induce alarming effects, including sudden unconsciousness, falls, and erratic behavior that risks injury or worse.
In light of the emerging crisis, security measures in Sierra Leone have tightened, especially in graveyards, due to reports of human bones being used as an ingredient in the drug.
The president of Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Bio, has declared a state of emergency in 2024 over the escalating abuse of this substance, which he has characterized as an “existential crisis” for the nation. Groups of young men suffering from the effects of kush are now a common sight along the streets of the former British colony.