
Thai drug gangs are targeting UK backpackers in order to recruit them as mules, police expert claims
The warning came after two women were arrested for allegedly carrying large quantities of narcotics from Bangkok airport.
Bella Culley, 18, of Billingham, County Durham, was held at Tbilisi airport, Georgia, on May 11 for allegedly trying to smuggle 14kg of cannabis and hash.
She had left Thailand within hours of former air stewardess Charlotte May Lee, 21, of Coulsdon, south London, who was arrested in Sri Lanka after police said she was carrying cannabis worth £1.15million.
Former police general Jemal Janashia, one of Georgia's top drug crime experts, told the Mail that the fact two young British women had taken off reportedly in possession of large quantities of drugs from the same airport 'will interest investigators'.
He added: 'They will be concerned about the possibility of a link and that Thai gangs may be attempting to recruit vulnerable British travellers.'
Culley's father, Neil, 49, flew to the Black Sea nation as soon as he heard of her arrest, but has been unable to visit his daughter, who claims she is pregnant.
The oil rig technician said: 'I have no experience in dealing with situations like this. It's very difficult.'
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The Guardian
an hour ago
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The Guardian
9 hours ago
- The Guardian
Atlanta reporter detained by Ice ‘punished for his journalism', rights groups say
Mario Guevara, a Salvadoran journalist imprisoned in a south Georgia immigration detention center after being arrested covering a 'No Kings Day' protest in June, is being 'punished for his journalism', first amendment rights groups said. 'The charges were dropped, yet he remains detained by Ice,' said José Zamora, the regional director for the Americas at the Committee to Protect Journalists, during a press conference on Tuesday morning at the Georgia capitol with Guevara's attorneys and family. 'Let's be clear, Mario is being punished for his journalism. He is now the only journalist in prison in the US in direct retaliation for his reporting.' A police officer from the city of Doraville in north DeKalb county arrested Guevara on 14 June on misdemeanor charges of pedestrian in the roadway, failure to disperse and obstruction while Guevara was covering a protest in an immigrant-heavy neighborhood. Guevara is widely followed by a Spanish-speaking audience for his coverage of immigration raids in Georgia, and more than 1 million people were watching his livestream on Facebook when he was arrested. Guevara, a native of El Salvador, has been in the US for more than 20 years. While his petition for asylum was rejected in 2012, his deportation was administratively closed in an appeal, and he has both a work permit and a pending application for a green card, his attorney Giovanni Diaz said. Though charges from the protest were quickly dropped, the sheriff of nearby Gwinnett county laid a second set of unrelated misdemeanor traffic charges shortly after Guevara's arrest. The Gwinnett county solicitor subsequently dropped those charges as well, but not before Gwinnett's sheriff's office seized his cell phone with a search warrant. Guevara's cell phone has not been returned, and it is unclear where it is, what data has been transferred from it or whether that data has been shared with federal agencies, Diaz said. 'Everybody's saying we don't see a warrant in the system,' Diaz said, describing his office's inquiries with the sheriff and other agencies. 'So, one of two things happened. Some other agency that hasn't contacted us took it – US attorney's [office], Ice, somebody else has it – or the phone was just plain stolen. 'I think it's par for the course, considering the government's conduct in this case. We're doing this, at least initially, to see if we get the phone back, but again, if they don't give the phone back, its another reason to file a lawsuit in federal court.' Guevara's family was forced to make an extortion payment after another inmate threatened him while he was briefly held in general population in the federal prison in Atlanta. Guevara is now being held in isolation, which may help protect him, but also limits his ability to report on conditions at the Folkston immigration center, set to become the largest Ice detention center in the US. 'With every day that passes, we are losing time that we will never get back,' said his daughter Katherine Guevara. 'I know so many others in the same situation understand it all too well. I'm deeply disappointed with this country. This is not just about one journalist. This is about what kind of country we want to be. If a government can punish a reporter for doing his job, what message does this send? What protections are left for the rest of us?'


Daily Mail
10 hours ago
- Daily Mail
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