UK Woman Busted Smuggling 100 Pounds of Drug Made From Human Bones

Has no one watched Locked Up Abroad? Brokedown Palace? To Catch a Smuggler? The idea of sneaking drugs through Asia (or anywhere, ever) should set off every alarm bell possible.

Charlotte May Lee, a 21-year-old former flight attendant from south London, was arrested in Sri Lanka earlier this month after customs officers at Colombo’s Bandaranaike Airport allegedly found over 100 pounds of a deadly street drug called kush in her luggage. Officials say it’s the largest kush seizure in the country’s history—an estimated street value of $3.3 million.

Kush has been tearing through parts of West Africa, particularly Sierra Leone, where it’s blamed for killing a dozen people a week. The ingredient list reportedly includes chemicals, tranquilizers—and human bones. Some graveyards have even been forced to boost security to keep people from digging up skeletons. Sierra Leone’s president has called it a “death trap” and declared a national emergency.

Ex-Flight Attendant Busted With 100 Pounds of Drug Made From Human Bones

Lee claims she had no idea the drugs were in her bags. “I thought it was going to be filled with all my stuff,” she told Daily Mail from prison. “They must have planted it then. I know who did it.” Her lawyer said she had packed in her Bangkok hotel room before heading out for the night and didn’t check her bags again before flying to Sri Lanka to wait out her visa renewal.

Now she’s locked up in a rough prison north of Colombo, reportedly sleeping on a concrete floor while facing a potential 25-year sentence.

Authorities flagged her based on travel patterns after another young British woman, Bella Culley, was arrested two days earlier in Georgia, also after leaving Bangkok. Culley, 18, was allegedly caught with more than 30 pounds of marijuana and hashish and is now facing charges that could land her in prison for life.

Sri Lankan customs officials say there’s been a spike in drugs moving through Bangkok. “This has been a real nuisance,” one senior officer told the BBC.

Thailand can feel like a lawless playground. Rent a motorbike, skip the helmet, buy a $2 meal that tastes like heaven, maybe even believe you’re untouchable. But the moment you get involved with drugs, you’re not chasing adventure—you’re signing up for concrete floors, metal bars, and a system that couldn’t care less about how sorry you are.