Ex-air hostess caught smuggling 45 kg deadly drug made of human bones from UK to Sri Lanka

The main ingredient of the drug that Charlotte May Lee was caught smuggling is human bones. (Image credit: Charlotte May Lee/Instagram, Unsplash)

A 21-year-old former flight attendant from the UK faces up to 25 years in a Sri Lankan prison after being caught allegedly smuggling around 45 kg of "kush," a deadly synthetic drug reportedly made with human bones. Charlotte May Lee was arrested earlier this month at Bandaranaike Airport in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo.

The "Kush" drug, which has an estimated street value of $3.3 million (approximately Rs 28 crore), originated in West Africa and is known for its devastating effects, killing an estimated dozen people a week in Sierra Leone alone. Its ingredients are said to include human bones, leading to grave robberies in Sierra Leone where its abuse led the country's president to declare a state of emergency last year.

Lee, a resident of south London, claimed the drugs were planted in her suitcases without her knowledge, her lawyer, Sampath Perera, told the BBC. She is currently being held in a jail north of Colombo, where she has to sleep on a concrete floor. She has, however, been allowed to contact her family, the New York Post reported.

According to her lawyer, Lee was working in Thailand and had to leave due to her visa expiring. She took a three-hour flight to Sri Lanka while waiting for her Thai visa renewal. "I had never seen them [the drugs] 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," Lee told the Daily Mail from prison. She also implied knowledge of who "planted" the drugs, stating, "They must have planted it then. I know who did it," without revealing any names.

Customs officers reportedly posed with the seized stash. If found guilty of smuggling, Lee faces up to 25 years in jail.