Expert explains why so many young people are being arrested on drug charges after visiting Thailand
There has been a recent rise in young Brits being arrested abroad on drug charges and now an expert has revealed why he believes its happening more frequently.
Perhaps the three most notable recent cases have seen Bella May Culley, Charlotte May Lee and Cameron Bradford all arrested after travelling either from or into Thailand, with a large amount of drugs found in their suitcases.
Christopher Stacey, CEO of Prisoners Abroad, spoke to ITV News about why more people seem to be facing this type of charge and offered advice to travellers.
Bella May Culley
Bella May Culley, 18, was first reported missing from Thailand but turned up a few days later in Georgia, where she was arrested.
Police say Bella was found with '34 hermetically sealed packages containing marijuana’ in her bag ‘as well as 20 packages of hashish’, a crime which can carry sentences between 20 years and life in the Eastern European country.
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She could now face 20 years in jail, although there was a major update in her particular case as she claimed to be pregnant.
Charlotte May Lee
In another recent case, 21-year-old former flight attendant Charlotte May Lee travelled from Thailand to Sri Lanka but was discovered with £1.2 million worth of drugs, which she claims was planted by a man she had met up with previously.
She was reportedly in tears after being told she could face 25 years in prison and the contents of her suitcases were revealed.
Cameron Bradford
The most recent example saw Cameron Bradford, 21, arrested in Munich on suspicion of drug smuggling.
Suspicions arose when she cancelled her flight from Thailand back to the UK last minute and switched it to the German city, where she was allegedly discovered with cannabis, which again came days after her family had filed a missing person's report.
What do the figures show?
Christopher Stacey, CEO of Prisoners Abroad spoke to ITV News recently. He said: "These arrests seem to be part of a worrying wider trend that we have seen.
"In the last year alone, we supported nearly 250 people compared with about 150 last year. In the last two months alone we have already had nearly 100 new cases of people around the world, of which over half were drug related offences. This does seem to be a particular trend that is on the increase."
Why are there more arrests being made?
Stacey added: "Much of this, although not all, can be accounted for the legalisation of cannabis for personal use in Thailand.
"What we are seeing is that people are leaving Thailand with drugs on their possession and then later arrested in other countries where those are illegal.
"That certainly seems to be the case with both Bella and Charlotte's cases.
"In Thailand in particular, that is leading to a lot of arrests. Last year we had over 50 people that we were supporting in Thailand compared to around 20 the year before."
Advice to travellers
Mr Stacey offered some advice to anyone heading out to Thailand. He said: "Check the UK government's website on what to look out for.
"There are some surprising laws which may be different from the UK.
"The luggage that you take, you need to make sure that you are responsible for it. Make sure you exercise caution and question things when you are travelling, especially when you are travelling alone, where you can become quite vulnerable to situations you didn't think you might find yourself in."
James Moorhouse