British Air Stewardess Claims She Was Framed After Drug Arrest in Sri Lanka

A British air stewardess accused of drug trafficking in Sri Lanka has declared her innocence, claiming she is being framed, as she remains behind bars in a Colombo-area prison under strict and grim conditions.

Charlotte May Lee, a 21-year-old former TUI cabin crew member from Coulsdon, South London, was arrested at Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo last Monday. Authorities discovered £1.2 million worth of a synthetic strain of cannabis in her suitcase. Lee was subsequently transferred to the high-security Negombo Prison, where she spends 22 hours a day in her cell.

Speaking to MailOnline from behind bars, Lee maintained the drugs were not hers and insisted they were planted. “I had never seen them before. I didn’t expect it at all when they pulled me over at the airport. I thought it was going to be filled with all my stuff,” she said.

Lee said she had been in Bangkok the night before and had packed her suitcase early for an early-morning flight. “I left my bags in the hotel room and headed out for the night. As they were already packed, I didn’t check them again in the morning. They must have planted it then. I know who did it.”

The young stewardess was reportedly working on a “booze cruise” in Thailand while awaiting a visa renewal. She decided to visit Sri Lanka during the waiting period. “I thought while I was waiting for the visa that I’d come to Sri Lanka. They [the people she believes are responsible] were supposed to meet me here. But now I’m here stuck in this jail,” she added.

After being held for seven days at the Police Narcotics Bureau—where she claimed she had to sleep on a bug-infested sofa Lee was brought before the Negombo Magistrates Court. The court ordered her to be remanded in custody for 14 days pending further hearings.

Lee described her prison conditions as appalling. “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,” she said. “There are no beds, no blankets. 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.”

She also revealed she hasn’t received her ADHD medication and is being given only strong sleeping tablets. “The shower is not really a shower just a bucket. You only get two or three hours of sun a day, sometimes more if court is busy.” Her case remains under investigation, with no date yet confirmed for the next hearing.

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