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James Moorhouse
British tourists have been running into a lot of trouble abroad recently, falling victim to some of the strict rules when it comes to drugs in foreign countries.
Bella May Culley, a teenager from the UK, was arrested in Georgia earlier this month after 34 packages of marijuana were found in her suitcase.
Meanwhile, Charlotte May Lee is facing over 20 years in prison in Sri Lanka after she was found with over £1.2 million worth of drugs in her luggage as she entered the country, and for both young women, it is difficult to see how there is a way out at the moment.
Given some of the horrific conditions in prisons abroad, Jamie Louis Swain will count himself extremely fortunate to have eventually escaped from Thailand with just a fine, having been caught with 0.42g of cocaine in his passport last year.
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He was soon arrested and faced up to 20 years in prison, despite his mum Michelle Swain continuing to claim that Mr Swain, from Stevenage, was completely innocent and had been 'set up'.
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She said recently: "People say it's because I'm his mum I don't believe it, but to get through two airports and the fact it's happened to other people, I just feel that it was a set up," she said, adding that her sons had gotten through both London Heathrow and Dubai airport without issue.
"I can't help that, I know I'm his mum, and I'm not silly I know they're all doing this and it all goes on, I'm not naive I've got three boys."
The 57-year-old, who flew out to Thailand to provide him with assistance when he was arrested in May 2024, also revealed a chilling comment that was made to her son as he faced the prospect of spending the next two decades of his life behind bars abroad.
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She said: "It wasn't very nice in there from what he said. It wasn't good.
“He said everyone in the prison were more interested in his story as a westerner, and they said to him ‘you're not going to get out of here’. They said they had been there for years.”
Importing cocaine into Thailand carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a fine of up to 5,000,000 baht (£1.1 million), while possession alone can mean up to five years behind bars, but in the end Mr Swain was able to return to the UK after paying a fine of just over £1000.
The other Brits facing drug smuggling charges abroad will be hoping that they can return back to the UK with similarly light punishments.