A young British woman accused of smuggling £1.2million worth of drugs into Sri Lanka could face up to a year on remand in prison before she learns of her fate.
Charlotte Lee May, 21, from Coulsdon, south London, was arrested in the capital Colombo last week after police discovered 46 kg of ‘Kush’ – a synthetic strain of cannabis – in her suitcase.
The youngster, who yesterday told MailOnline from behind bars in Negombo Prison she had ‘no idea’ about the drugs found her suitcase, was seen at Negombo Magistrates Court on Sunday.
Miss May, who was seen in tears in the courtroom, appearing ‘lost’ without any friends or family, had been kept in custody at the Police Narcotics Bureau in the country’s capital.
But after being let on remand following Sunday’s court appearance, she was moved to Negombo Prison – one of the largest in the country.
She could face up to a year – or even two years if the Attorney General requests it – in the prison where she has not eaten for days and has been forced to sleep on concrete floors.
Miss May will then have to make an appearance in court at least every 14 days until she is found guilty or not guilty of the charges.
She has been told that she could face up to 25 years in Welikada Prison, a tough maximum security jail, if convicted.
The former TUI cabin crew member is expected to appear before judges again next week, a legal source told MailOnline.
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
Speaking to MailOnline from behind bars in the woman’s ward of Negombo prison, Miss Lee said she had ‘no idea’ that there were drugs in her luggage when she set off for 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,’ 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.
It was here that she spoke to MailOnline today to highlight the ‘awful’ conditions in the prison – revealing she has not eaten any food at all for two days because the prison meals have been making her ill.
She said: ‘I am trying my best to stay positive because what else can you do?
‘But it is hard. I feel as though I have no human rights here. There are no beds, no blankets. And where you sleep is like a long corridor with lots of other women.
‘I am sleeping on a concrete floor – literally. All I have is my jumper as a pillow.
‘There is a ceiling fan but it doesn’t really work and there’s a TV but that also barely works. I only have this one pair of clothes, nothing else to change into and I’m not being allowed my medication for ADHD.
‘The only thing they give are sleeping tablets that properly knock you out.
‘The shower is not really a shower, it’s just a bucket that you pour over yourself but they don’t give you anything for that.
It has been described as ‘Hell’ for women – with maggots being reportedly found in food and rats scuttling around extremely overcrowded cells
‘They put you in an alleyway with a bunch of other women, that’s it.’
‘You are only allowed two or three hours outside in the sun a day, occasionally longer if there are a lot of women in court that day.
‘I’ve not eaten in two days because the food is just too spicy for me.
‘I have told my lawyers – I have three of them – that I need different food. They said they would sort that but they still haven’t. I don’t know why.
‘Fortunately, some of the girls speak English and have shared biscuits and things like that with me, which is nice.
‘All the other British people being held here are men, so I don’t get to see them.
‘There is no communication. You are told nothing. I couldn’t arrange an e-visit with my family or even write a letter.’
Charlotte May Lee, 21, from Coulsdon, south London, has been arrested in a Sri Lankan airport after £1.15 million of cannabis was allegedly found in her luggage
A photograph on Miss Lee’s social media shows her in her former job as a TUI stewardess
Negombo Prison is one of the largest in Sri Lanka with the majority of inmates being men – with a smaller side wing for women like Charlotte.
Miss Lee added: ‘Some people are nice, some people are not so nice.
‘You can’t trust many people – even the lawyers. I was being held in the narcotics unit until Sunday and now I will be here until my next court case.
‘They don’t care about you. I came in with nothing and have nothing but luckily other people have stuff here they can share with me.’
The Londoner, who had been training to become an eyelash technician, attended Negombo Magistrates Court last week.
There she was accused of two charges, one of possessing illegal drugs and another of importing illegal drugs into Sri Lanka.
A legal source told MailOnline: ‘When Charlotte arrived in court she seemed completely lost.
‘She was crying a lot and was all on her own. It looked like she didn’t have any idea about what was going on.
‘It’s unclear what will happen to her now. She may well be sent to Welikada Prison in Colombo.’
Welikada Prison in Colombo is the biggest, maximum security jail in Sri Lanka, accommodating both men and women.
The prison has been hit with a number of scandals including riots in 2012 which that left 27 dead.
It has been described as ‘Hell’ for women – with maggots being reportedly found food and rats scuttling around extremely overcrowded cells.
The haul of drugs, which according to the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) was the largest ever amount of illegal substances found in the airport, were intended for ‘high-end local buyers’.
Footage provided to MailOnline shows two large suitcases and what appears to be parcels of drugs alongside a group of narcotics detectives who uncovered the alleged smuggling.
In the background of the clip, a British woman’s voice can be heard laughing and saying ‘it’s not that, don’t worry’.
In another partially auditable clip she can be heard saying ‘it looks like drugs to me’ before later adding ‘and I told them I was 21’.
Pictures from the scene show six officers in the airport standing over two large suitcases and dozens of large vacuum packed bags of the drug.
Officials from the Customs Narcotics Control Unit in the airport said it is the largest amount of Kush ever to be detected since the international hub opened.
Her social media accounts show Miss Lee appearing to enjoy working for the travel company
The ‘massive consignment’ is worth the equivalent of £1.2 million in Sri Lankan rupees.
Meanwhile the Foreign Office in the UK has confirmed that it is supporting a British woman who has been arrested in Sri Lanka and is in contact with her family, as well as local authorities.
According to Miss Lee’s friends she has been trying to post updates on her plight on Snapchat.
One woman, close to the cabin crew member turned lash technician, said that she was shocked when she heard the allegation – insisting Miss Lee was a ‘nice girl’ and not a criminal.
The friend, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: ‘I couldn’t believe it. Charlotte is a hard worker and a grafter not a drug smuggler.’
Another friend said: ‘I am in total shock. ‘She is a really nice girl, there were no red flags or anything.
‘We saw clips of the arrest and we could hear an English woman, who sounded very much like Charlotte in the background.’
Another added: ‘She’s been told that if convicted, because of the size of the drugs haul, she is looking at between 20 and 25 years in jail. British Embassy staff warned her she’s going nowhere soon.’
Miss Lee had previously worked as a cabin crew member for TUI, yet friends have said this was only a ‘summer contract’.
Her social media accounts show her appearing to have a great time working for the travel company, posing in her stewardess uniform and even in the cockpit of one of the planes.
Photos shared on her social media show her living a typical life of a young woman in London in her early twenties – out drinking at the pub with friends or dancing at nightclubs.
Miss Lee, according to friends, first flew out to Thailand in April to celebrate her 21st birthday with her older sister who was meeting her from Australia, where she now lives.
Following the holiday, Miss Lee is said to have returned to Coulsdon, telling mates that she ‘loved Thailand and wanted to work out there’.
She mentioned around four weeks ago that ‘she had a job on a boat’ in the south-east Asian country but according to her friend did not mention any immediate plans of returning.
Yet last week, the young woman began posting pictures again of beautiful white sand beaches and selfies of her partying abroad.
And on Monday, the day of her arrest, she had posted a TikTok of herself on a plane, wearing a facemask, as she flew over a pretty island. She tagged the location of the video as Bangkok.
The incident comes just days after a British teenager was arrested in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi after allegedly arriving from Thailand carrying 14kg of cannabis in her luggage.
Bella May Culley, 18, is now facing life in prison in the former Soviet country after being accused of illegally buying, possessing and importing large quantities of narcotics.
The youngster from Billingham, Country Durham, was believed to have gone missing in Thailand before she was detained 3,700 miles away at Tbilisi International Airport on the charges.
Concerns had been raised that the two cases were related as both young women left Bangkok airport on the same day.
But Miss Lee told MailOnline she did not know Ms Culley, who has been remanded in custody until her next appearance on July 1.
Miss Lee and Miss Culley, who both flew out of Bangkok on Monday, were arrested in the countries within hours of each other, meaning the cases could be related.
The FCDO said with regards to Miss Lee’s case: ‘We are supporting a British woman who has been arrested in Sri Lanka and are in contact with her family and the local authorities.’
