COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (WKRC) – A former flight attendant was arrested at an airport following a large drug bust involving a new synthetic substance that is reportedly made of human bones.
According to The New York Post, 21-year-old Charlotte May Lee of south London, England was taken into custody earlier this month at Bandaranaike Airport in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka after authorities allegedly found 101 lbs. of a dangerous new synthetic drug.
The publication reported that Lee allegedly smuggled in a suitcase full of “kush,” a new synthetic cannabinoid that originates from West Africa.
A report from NPR states that “kush” first appeared in the West African nation of Sierra Leone around seven years ago and is described as a drug “routinely” cut with various additives, such as the following:
- Acetone
- Tramadol (opioid)
- Formalin (opioid) (A chemical used to preserve bodies)
According to NPR, “kush” is potent, easily accessible in Sierra Leone and dangerously unpredictable.
“Before, if we had money we’d spend it on food or clothes. Now we just buy kush. It makes you want to cry, but it’s not easy to stop,” a Sierra Leone man told NPR’s reporters.
“Men don’t help their families anymore. They’re always smoking at all hours of the day. And they spend all the money on kush,” a woman, identified as Elizabeth Sankoh, said when speaking to NPR. “I have to do everything now.”
According to The Post, Sierra Leone’s president, Julius Maada Bio called the drug a “death trap” and an “existential crisis” to the nation.
Addiction to “kush” is reportedly fueling incidents of grave robbing in Sierra Leone, with authorities tightening security at cemeteries to prevent the sites from being disturbed.
A lawyer representing Lee told the BBC that the stash of “kush,” which reportedly holds a street value of $3.3 million, was planted without her knowledge.
When speaking toThe Daily Mail,Lee said the “kush” was likely planted in her suitcase while she was in a hotel in Bangkok, also telling the paper “I know who did it.”
Lee said that she had traveled to Sri Lanka because her 30-day visa in Thailand was set to expire and she wanted to travel, per the BBC.
She told The Mail that conditions at the prison in Negombo are harsh and that she’s sleeping on the concrete floor.
Authorities with the Sri Lanka Customs Narcotics Control Unit told the BBC that the bust was the largest “kush” seizure in the airport’s history, with a senior customs officer describing the drugs coming into Sri Lanka from Bangkok as “a real nuisance.”
Lee’s arrest on May 12 comes as another British woman, 18-year-old Bella Culley, was taken into custody in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Culley was accused of “illegally purchasing and storing a particularly large amount of narcotics, illegally purchasing and storing the narcotic drug marijuana, and illegally importing it into Georgia” by the country’s Ministry of Internal Affairs.
A Sri Lanka senior customs officer confirmed to the BBC that “another passenger who had left Bangkok airport, almost at the same time, was arrested in another country. We arrested this lady (Ms. Lee) based on profiling.”
Culley could face up to 20 years behind bars or life in prison if found guilty, per the BBC. According to The Post, Lee faces up to a 25-year prison if convicted of smuggling.
