Ms Lee, who denies the allegations, ‘doesn’t know what happened’ as she waits for Thai authorities to determine whether the substance they found was, in fact, cannabis
The lawyer representing alleged drug mule Charlotte May Lee has claimed the Brit is facing several months behind bars without the prospect of bail.
Ms Lee, 21, was arrested by Sri Lankan authorities in May after she was allegedly caught with a £1.2 million, 46 kilogram stash of cannabis stuffed into her suitcases after arriving on a flight from Thailand. The part time beautician from South London is yet to be formally charged for her alleged crimes, and is languishing in a prison in Negombo, a city on the country’s west coast. Her lawyer has told a court hearing shw faces months at the jail without movement on her case as investigators are “taking time”.
Sampath Parera told The Sun progress has stalled in the bid to release the former flight attendant on bail, as police attached to her case are investigating the “highest amount of cannabis seized at the airport”, and this will take time.
He said: “It is taking time because it is the highest amount of cannabis seized at the airport and I am speculating that investigating agencies are taking time to investigate.” Mr Parera added that her bail will likely take time to arrange, but that he has demanded relevant government authorities to decide whether illegal substances were found.
The lawyer said he made the application on the first day she came before the court, adding that Ms Lee and her legal team are yet to discover whether there “actually is cannabis”.
He continued: “I made an application on the very first day when she was produced at the court to produce those alleged cannabis to the government analysis department, or the authorities to get a report. It’s pending, so they have to come up with the report. We still don’t know the exact weight of this and we still don’t know that actually there is cannabis.”
Mr Parera added it wouldn’t be known whether there is actual cannabis involved before investigators return their analyses, adding: “You can’t just say that there is cannabis without testing.”
Overall, the lawyer estimated the entire process could “take about one month, or one and a half months”, during which time Ms Lee will remain behind bars. She told the BBC she has spent most of the day inside the Negombo prison while occasionally venturing outside for fresh air.
While she is “not trying to think” about her predicament, she said the heat has been intense, and that she has been sitting on a concrete floor “all of the time”.
She said: “I have never been to prison and I’ve never been to Sri Lanka. This heat and just sitting on a concrete floor all of the time.” Ms Lee denies the allegations against her and “doesn’t know what happened”, her lawyer has said.
