• Claims she hasn't eaten for two days because jail food ‘is too spicy’

A young British woman facing years locked in a Sri Lankan jail after being caught with Pounds 1.2 million worth of cannabis has told of her despair – and insisted she has been set up.

Charlotte May Lee, 21, from Coulsdon, south London, England, was arrested in Colombo last week after the Police discovered 46 kilograms of kush – a synthetic strain of cannabis – in her suitcase.

Lee, a former cabin crew worker, had just arrived in Sri Lanka on a flight from Bangkok, Thailand, when she was arrested at Bandaranaike Airport and taken to custody on 12 May.

She is now being held in the Negombo Prison.

Speaking to MailOnline from behind bars in the woman's ward of the prison, Lee said that she had 'no idea' that there were drugs in her luggage when she set off for Sri Lanka. She said: “I had never seen them before. I didn't expect it all when they pulled me over at the Airport. I thought it was going to be filled with all my stuff. I had been in Bangkok the night before and had already packed my clothes because my flight was really early. So, I left my bags in the hotel room and headed for the night out. As they were already packed, I didn't check them again in the morning. They must have planted it then.” And, she added: “I know who did it.”

Lee told us that she had been working temporarily on a ‘booze cruise’ in Thailand but that her 30-day visa was about to run out so she decided to take a trip to nearby Sri Lanka while she waited for her Thai visa to be renewed. She decided to go to the country because it was relatively nearby – only a three-hour flight away – and she had never visited there before. “I thought that while I was waiting for the visa that I'd come to Sri Lanka. They (the people she believed planted the drugs) were supposed to meet me here. But now, I'm here – stuck in this jail.”

After her arrest, Lee was initially held at the Police Narcotics Bureau for seven days. She says that she was forced to sleep on a sofa that had bed bugs with a security guard watching her the whole time.

Then, on 18 May, she was brought to the Negombo Magistrate’s Court where she was remanded in custody for a further 14 days while she awaits further hearings.

At this point, she was transferred to the Negombo Prison where she still remains, stuck in her crowded cell for 22 hours a day and only let out to eat and briefly stretch her legs.

And, it was here that she spoke to highlight the “awful” conditions in the prison – revealing that she has not eaten any food at all for two days because the prison meals have been making her ill.

She said: “I am trying my best to stay positive because what else can you do? But, it is hard. I feel as though I have no human rights here. There are no beds, no blankets. And where you sleep is like a long corridor with lots of other women. I am sleeping on a concrete floor – literally. All I have is my jumper as a pillow. There is a ceiling fan but it doesn't really work and there's a television but that also barely works. I only have this one pair of clothes, nothing else to change into and I'm not being allowed my medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. The only thing they give are sleeping tablets that properly knock you out. The shower is not really a shower, it's just a bucket that you pour over yourself but they don't give you anything for that. They put you in an alleyway with a bunch of other women, that's it. You are only allowed two or three hours outside in the sun a day, occasionally longer if there are a lot of women in court that day. I’ve not eaten in two days because the food is just too spicy for me. I have told my lawyers – I have three of them – that I need different food. They said that they would sort that out but they still haven't. I don't know why. Fortunately, some of the girls speak English and have shared biscuits and things like that with me, which is nice. All the other British people being held here are men, so I don't get to see them. There is no communication. You are told nothing. I couldn't arrange an electronic visit with my family or even write a letter. Some people are nice, some people are not so nice. You can't trust many people – even the lawyers. I was being held in the narcotics unit until 18 May and now I will be here until my next court date. They don't care about you. I came in with nothing and have nothing but luckily other people have stuff here they can share with me.”

The Londoner, who had been training to become an eyelash technician, attended Negombo MC on Monday (19). There, she was accused of two charges, one of possessing illegal drugs and another of importing illegal drugs into Sri Lanka.

The haul of drugs, which according to the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) was the largest ever amount of illegal substances found in the Airport, were intended for ‘high-end local buyers’.

Footage shows two large suitcases and what appears to be parcels of drugs alongside a group of narcotics detectives who uncovered the alleged smuggling.

In the background of the clip, a British woman's voice can be heard laughing and saying “it's not that, don't worry”.

In another partially auditable clip, she can be heard saying “it looks like drugs to me” before later adding “and I told them I was 21”.

Pictures from the scene show six officers in the Airport standing over two large suitcases and dozens of large vacuum packed bags of the drug.

Officials from the Customs Narcotics Control Unit in the Airport said that it is the largest amount of kush ever to be detected since the international hub opened.

The ‘massive consignment’ is worth the equivalent of £ 1.2 million, in Sri Lankan Rupees.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Office in the United Kingdom has confirmed that it is supporting a British woman who has been arrested in Sri Lanka and is in contact with her family, as well as the local authorities.

(Daily Mail)