WHITE sand beaches, palm trees, and a pumping nightlife have captivated young Brits to head to Thailand in their throngs.
But glam young influencers like Charlotte May Lee and Bella Culley are being targeted by British drug gangs based in the Land of Smiles.
Tim StewartBrit student Bella May Culley was arrested in Georgia after allegedly carrying drugs into the country from Thailand[/caption]
MoyesBrit Charlotte May Lee was arrested in Sri Lanka after allegedly trying to smuggle in drugs[/caption]
Tim StewartGlamorous drug mule Levi-April Whalley was handed a 16-month jail sentence for bringing drugs to the UK from the US[/caption]
Experts have told The Sun why even seasoned travellers are falling victim to Brit drug lords based in Thailand.
And these women lured into a world of smuggling may simply being used as bait for police – acting as “fall girls” for a wider scheme.
Targets who want a well-travelled lifestyle are found on social media and approached by women working for the Brit crime bosses.
Girls are hooked in with the promise of an all expenses paid trip where they’ll be able to get Instagram snaps from the holiday of a lifetime.
Instead, they’re unwittingly becoming pawns ready to be tossed away by the nefarious Brit drug lords looking to turn a profit.
In the last couple of weeks, glam tourist Bella Culley allegedly tried to smuggle a suitcase of weed into Georgia and was locked away in a brutal ex-Soviet prison despite claiming to be pregnant.
And former air stewardess Charlotte May Lee was then caught allegedly trying to smuggle drugs worth £1.2million into Sri Lanka.
Her two suitcases were said to have been stuffed with 46kg of a synthetic cannabis strain known as kush — which is 25 times more potent than opioid fentanyl.
And expert lawyer Seema Parikh told The Sun that both Bella and Charlotte could be examples of being set up to fail by the gangsters.
They may have both been essentially offered up as a high profile distractions for the police.
The “mules” carry lower value drugs like cannabis products while the main gang can quietly focus on smuggling items such as cocaine and heroin.
Meanwhile, Gary Carroll, from Claymore Advisory Group, said women are being recruited through social media by friends of friends.
The expert witness in drug cases has said he’s worked on an increasing number of criminal cases where young women have been recruited to be mules.
He said: “There’s no threats or force element. It’s very friendly as such, and it’s [framed as] more of an opportunity to earn easy money.”
“[They get] messages along the lines of: ‘My boyfriend who lives in Thailand, or lives in Ibiza, or lives wherever, has got this on the go, would you like to participate?’
“Social media is a playground in networking for those involved in criminality.”
He added: “These are UK criminals who perhaps are based abroad working with foreign criminals and recruiting in the UK.
“I couldn’t estimate the amount of cases I’ve been involved with [in the UK] where the main defendants happen to live in Thailand or Indonesia.”
Part-time beautician Lee was arrested after stepping off a flight to Sri Lanka from Thailand
Sri Lanka PoliceLee’s police booking photo was released after her airport arrest[/caption]
Sri Lanka PoliceSri Lankan cops released a photo of the seized bags of drugs Lee was allegedly caught with[/caption]
The expert said mules were usually not told exactly what they were transporting in return for the free trip.
He said they could be told they were moving money or a taxed item to avoid paying any import duties.
He explained: “In court it comes down to if they [mules] are unaware of what they are exactly transporting, then they haven’t truly had the free will of making that decision.”
This raises the possibility that they were not selected to ensure delivery but rather to create a distraction
Seema Parikh
Carroll also raised the recent arrest of drug smuggling pair Sophie Bannister and Levi-April Whalley.
“They’re young, glamorous, and professional ladies that went to New York… it was a great trip and there was plenty of pictures to show that.
“But what they were bringing back was 35kg of cannabis as a form of acceptance for that deal.”
Culley posted glam snaps of herself to her Instagram accountEast2West
The 18-year-old is now in a Tblisi jail following her arrestEast2West
East2WestCulley is alleged to have tried to take a suitcase of drugs into Georgia[/caption]
In that case, the pair knew they were transporting weed, a judge concluded, but they avoided jail with a suspended sentence.
Criminal defence lawyer Parikh said targeting women was the preferred method of drugs gangs to try and beat customs forces.
She said: “Many such women are not hardened criminals. They are pawns in a far larger network that preys on their vulnerability and trust.”
The gangs use a tactic of sending as many shipments as possible with the hope that as many slip through.
Drugs are so profitable that any losses can be easily eaten by the organised crime group.
But, any mules caught up in their schemes face a far larger consequence.
Parikh said: “Both Culley and Lee fall into a demographic that traffickers frequently target. They are young, female, and apparently lacking in prior criminal history.
“These are individuals whose apparent naivety makes them less likely to attract scrutiny from customs officers. Plus their ability to easily travel internationally without the need for visas, in the cases of Culley and Lee, are a bonus to criminal networks.”
Tragically, Parikh raised the possibility that Culley and Lee could have been used as fall-women to try and get other more profitable shipments through.
East2WestCulley had initially gone missing in Thailand[/caption]
Tim StewartLee wept in court as she was formally remanded in prison in Sri Lanka[/caption]
She said: “In the cases of Bella and Charlotte, both were allegedly carrying cannabis-based products rather than high-value drugs such as heroin or cocaine.
“This raises the possibility that they were not selected to ensure delivery but rather to create a distraction.
“In such a scenario, these young women may have been set up to fail, while the true operation continued quietly in the background.”
Thailand decriminalised marijuana last year adding to its attraction as a hub for Brit drug barons.
Culley and Lee had individually told their loved ones they planned on meeting a mystery man during their travels.
Culley revealed to her family she was meeting an unknown man in the Philippines who had moved to the country from the North East.
The backpacker’s social media went on to show her clearly in the company of a male stranger – but he was never clearly pictured or named.
Culley’s granddad William Culley, 80, said that she appears to have spent most of March in Thailand but also spent time in the Philippines with a man called “Ross or Russ”.
Her family members also revealed she went on to hook up in Thailand with a group of young men from the north west of England before being reported missing.
Instagram/sophieandriellaferriGlamorous pals Sophie Bannister and Levi-April Whalley[/caption]
MEN MediaThe pair arrived back in the UK with a suitcase of drugs[/caption]
Meanwhile Lee, a former TUI stewardess, left for Thailand weeks ago, with relatives saying she had made vague comments about meeting a man in Thailand.
She had recently endured a painful break-up, they added.
And according to her pals, Lee was besotted with a British guy in Thailand known as “Rocko”, who they believe could help her defence.
An unknown British man was waiting for Lee when she arrived on a flight to Colombo from Thailand last Monday.
Defence lawyer Rachel Cook painted a different picture of how mules were being forced into transporting drugs – through force.
She said if someone was to get into debt with a drug gang, they could be strong armed into then working for them.
They would be coerced to stay in the country and threatened by being covertly photographed to show they were being watched.
Cook said: “So they’re targeted by gangs and told, ‘if you don’t do this for us, we’re going to beat you up,’ then they are victims in all sense of the word, but especially when they’re younger.”
“I imagine that social media is a sensible way of trying to recruit people because it enables the gangs to maintain their anonymity.”
Why Brit backpackers are prime targets, Thai cop reveals
By Patrick Harrington, Foreign News Reporter
Police Lieutenant Colonel Arun Musikim, Deputy Inspector of the Surat Thani province police force, said: “Cases involving British nationals smuggling cannabis have been around for a while.
“There is a lot of cannabis grown on Thailand’s islands in the south because the climate is suitable and it is legal. A lot of gangs are attracted to this.
“There are now various smuggling methods that we have seen. Some carry it themselves, some hire backpackers, and some send it via mail.
“This year, there have been many cases we have intercepted. Most involve British and Malaysian nationals.
“It’s easy for British citizens to travel as they can enter Thailand and return to the UK without needing a visa.
“Most of the smugglers are people hired to carry the cannabis, similar to how tourists might smuggle tax-free goods.
“They’re usually unemployed individuals from the UK. The gangs offer them flights, pocket money and hotel stays, just to come and travel and take a bag back home with them.
“These people often have poor social standing at home and are looking for ways to earn quick money. They find them through friends or on social media.
“Many will go to festivals or parties while they are here, just like they are having a normal trip abroad.
“They are told that it is easy and they will not be caught. Then the amount the organisers can sell the cannabis for in the UK is much higher than it costs in Thailand.
“Police suspect that there are multiple employers and groups receiving the drugs on the other end. The cannabis then enters the UK market.
“We are being vigilant to ensure there are no routes out of the country.”
And with the two young Brits now both awaiting their fate locked up in brutal foreign jails, a number of striking similarities have emerged over their cases.
Both women are believed to have used the same airport to depart, allegedly with the drugs on them, as cops say they flew solo from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport.
A potential link between the two cases appears likely to form part of the investigations being executed by the Georgian and Sri Lankan authorities.
Another similarity between the cases is how well the discovered narcotics were stashed.
Shocking images published by customs officials following both arrests show how drugs had been allegedly stuffed into large vacuum-sealed bags.
This suggests the stash was packed with a top level of professionalism, reports say.
Bella was detained in Georgia following a tip-off on May 11 after a 20-hour flight from Bangkok via Sharjah in the UAE with the drug stash allegedly found in her hold bag.
She had previously joked online of “Bonnie and Clyde” hijinks and was pictured smoking a suspicious-looking cigarette and showing off wads of cash.
But a family friend claimed Bella was “completely exploited”.
They said: “She’s just a normal 18-year-old. She’s not some hardened criminal.”
Police HandoutSri Lankan cops with the drugs allegedly carried by Lee[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
