21 years old Charlotte May, a former air hostess was arrested by the police after she landed at Bandaranaike International Airport in Sri Lanka from Thailand last Monday. She was allegedly attempting to smuggle the synthetic drug Kush that is almost worth £1.2m.
As reported by Mirror, “Her two suitcases were said to have been stuffed with 46kg of a synthetic drug known as kush, a highly addictive mix of a number of drugs, chemicals and even human bones. The former Tui air hostess departed Surrey for Thailand a fortnight ago, having made vague comments to friends about “meeting a man in the Far East country.”
A friend of Charlotte May’s family, told The Sun, “We’re frantically worried. She was arrested then seemingly abandoned and is rotting in a jail cell. She’s very scared.” Another friend further mentioned, “She’s been told if convicted, because of the size of the drugs haul, she’s looking at between 20 and 25 years in jail. British Embassy staff warned her she’s going nowhere soon.”
It should be noted here that Kush is a dangerous drug and is more potent than opioid fentanyl. Moreover, it is often combined with toxic chemicals, which makes it worse. The drug first appeared in Sierra Leone and no official count has yet been recorded about the number of deaths that Kush has caused.
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Kush affects the users’ mental health terribly and as reported by Mirror, “Sierra Leone Psychiatric Hospital said that between 2020 and 2023, admissions linked to kush surged by almost 4,000 per cent to reach 1,865. Around 63 per cent of the current patients were admitted with kush-related problems.”
To fight this ongoing crisis, a National Task Force on Drugs and Substance Abuse has been set up and besides that centers will also be established, which will be “adequately staffed by trained professionals to offer care and support to people with drug addiction.”
While Charlotte May’s case is shocking, it is definitely not the first time that something like this has happened. Last week, 18 years old Brit Bella Culley was arrested in Georgia with cannabis worth £200,000. According to Bella’s grandad, “She went to the Philippines to see somebody, a lad there, who she used to go out with a couple of years ago, who was working out there.”
He further added, “She said, “I’m going on my own, but I’m meeting Ross out there.” Or Russ, I’m not sure what his name is. He was working out there for his father’s company or something – but now I wonder if what she told me was true. Last night they were told they could see her in the morning. They said they’d ring me straight after they had seen her, but I haven’t had a call. They must still be waiting.”
While the incidents are unfortunate, it also highlights the deep rooted drug issues among the youth. It now remains to be seen what the judiciary does with Charlotte.
