A British air stewardess accused of being a drug mule has insisted she is being set up as she remains locked in a Sri Lankan jail. Charlotte May Lee, a former TUI cabin crew member, was arrested in the capital, Colombo, last Monday after £1.2 million worth of cannabis was uncovered in her suitcase. Police discovered a synthetic strain of the drug and sent her to Negombo Prison, where she remains in her cell for 22 hours a day.
Lee, 21, has maintained her innocence since her arrest at Bandaranaike Airport, claiming the drugs were "planted" in her suitcase". She told MailOnline: "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. I know who did it."
The former stewardess from Coulsdon, South London, was working on a "booze cruise" in Thailand, but flew to Sri Lanka while she waited for her 30-day Thai visa to be renewed.
She explained: "I thought while I was waiting for the visa that I'd come to Sri Lanka. They [the people she thinks set her up] were supposed to meet me here. But now I'm here - stuck in this jail."
Lee was first held at the Police Narcotics Bureau for seven days, where she was forced to sleep on a sofa with bed bugs before being transferred to Negombo Magistrates Court.
British PS1.2m 'drugs mule' speaks from behind bars at 'hellhole' Sri Lanka prison | World | News | Express.co.uk