Latest news with #drugmule
The Sun
6 days ago
- The Sun
Pregnant teen Brit ‘drug mule' Bella Culley reveals gender of her baby in court as she makes emotional plea for freedom
TEENAGE drug mule suspect Bella Culley announced she was expecting a baby boy today as she made an emotional court appeal for freedom. Bella, 19, whispered the baby news to her lawyer at a hearing in Georgian capital Tbilisi where she repeated claims that she had no idea £200,000 worth of cannabis was in her baggage. 7 7 7 The British youngster was supported for the first time by her mother Lyanne Kennedy, who appeared visibly moved as the sex of the unborn tot was revealed. Bella, from Billingham, Teesside, faces 20 years in jail if convicted of smuggling the huge stash from Thailand to the former Soviet state - and bringing up her child behind bars. But she addressed a hearing directly on Thursday, insisting she had no control over her plight. Bella said: 'Gamarjoba!' - hello in Georgian - before pleading: 'I hope you can understand the story from my eyes. I never thought something like this would happen to me.' The teenager - in a grey turtleneck top with her baby bump showing - concluded the brief statement with the word 'Madloba', Georgian for 'thank you'. Bella has claimed she was burned with a hot iron and shown a beheading video by a Thailand-based gang which forced her to fly to Tbilisi in May. The unidentified father of her child is understood to be a British man she spent time with at the start of her disastrous back-packing trip. She was arrested on arrival at the airport but claimed the bag was checked in by a gang member and she never saw it before Georgian police stopped her at customs. Bella's attempt to escape a jail term with a plea bargain deal has been complicated by the release of Thai CCTV footage. It is said to contradict her claims that she tried to alert cops at Bangkok airport. Her lawyer Malkhaz Salakaia told Tbilisi City Court today: 'Bella has an obvious health condition - she is soon to be a mother to a baby boy and I want her to experience it while free. 'It's a pivotal moment in one's life, especially one so young. She is only 19.' Mr Salakaia added: 'There was no malicious intent on Bella's part - she was pressured and forced and there is irrefutable evidence of that. "Her testimony contains even the names and last names of the individuals who forced her to transport it, she was threatened, as well as her family, including her mother who is present today. 'I want to underline that she didn't hand in the baggage - all she knows is that there is this luggage and she will be met by certain individuals once she arrives. 'The bag wasn't even locked, and it went through three countries and two continents, while Bella to this day is unaware whether Tbilisi is a country or a city. 'Bella didn't commit this crime and there is no grounds to doubt her testimony. I hope you are convinced your honor and knowing your past practice. 'I am sure she won't be found guilty." 7 7 But state prosecutor Vakhtang Tsalugelashvili argued that there was a risk Bella would flee the country if she was granted bail. He said: 'Since there are no new developments in the case, we again fall back to our previous arguments that she might attempt to escape if released on the bail and leave the country. 'There is also a risk of a repeated offence given given the large amount of drugs involved so we think that same procedures should remain in place.' Bella's lawyer Mr Salakaia said her parents - estranged Ms Kennedy and her oil rig worker dad Niel - were willing to stand a bail surety of £13,600. And he spoke of his concern that conditions at Tbilisi's grim No5 Women's Penitentiary were not good for her unborn child in the heat of summer. Inside the dark world of Brit 'drug mules' A SLEW of drug mule arrests involving Brits have emerged in the last few months. In April and May, two Brit women were arrested abroad for alleged drug smuggling. Bella was the first after she allegedly tried to smuggle a suitcase of weed into Georgia. Meanwhile, former air stewardess Charlotte May Lee was also caught allegedly trying to smuggle drugs worth £1.2million into Sri Lanka. Her two suitcases were said to have been stuffed with 46kg of a synthetic cannabis strain known as kush — which is 25 times more potent than opioid fentanyl. If found guilty, South Londoner Charlotte could face a 25-year sentence. As a young mum was detained in Germany for allegedly smuggling cannabis in her bags on a flight from Thailand - in yet another shocking case. Glamorous Cameron Bradford, 21, from Knebworth, Herts, was detained at Munich Airport on April 21 as she tried to collect her luggage. It comes as a Brit couple claiming to be tourists from Thailand have been busted with more than 33kg of cannabis in their suitcases at a Spanish airport. The pair were picked out by suspicious cops at Valencia Airport after displaying a 'nervous and evasive attitude' and are now behind bars on drug trafficking charges. Experts told The Sun how wannabe Brit Insta stars are being lured by cruel gangs into carting drugs across the world. Then last month, a six-year-old British boy was arrested in Mauritius suspected of smuggling part of a £1.6million dope haul stuffed inside his wheelie case. The lad was picked up by customs officials along with his mum and five other Brits as they arrived on the tropical island. Authorities branded the use of a child in the audacious drug smuggling plot as 'inhumane". Mr Salakaia said: 'Pregnancy needs special treatment - basic hygiene. 'She needs water for example, which for several days was not the case in this heat.' Bella was denied bail and ordered to remain in custody until the next hearing on September 2. Her mum Lyanne burst into tears as the judge Giorgi Gelashvili announced she would return to jail and called out: 'I love you - I'll come tomorrow.' Lyanne said as she left court: 'I love Georgia - it's a beautiful country, but at first we thought Bella was in Georgia in America. 'I've been here three times already and I'm going to visit Bella tomorrow.' 7 7
The Sun
02-07-2025
- The Sun
Brit gang ‘who threatened to behead Bella Culley' told her ‘we know where your family are'…as two-word SOS text revealed
A BRITISH gang threatened to behead drug mule suspect Bella Culley and her family in a chilling warning to the pregnant 18-year-old. Bella was shown a horrifying video of an execution by the evil traffickers which forced the teen to send her loved ones a two-word SOS text, her lawyer has claimed. 7 7 7 The Brit told her legal team that she fell into the clutches of a British-led gang of drug runners while on holiday in Thailand. She denies knowingly importing drugs worth £200,000 into the former Soviet state of Georgia as she continues to claim she was in fear of life when she flew from Bangkok in May. Trainee nurse Bella - who got pregnant on her Far East trip - claimed the gang also threatened to harm her parents and 16-year-old brother after claiming they knew where they lived. In a desperate two word plea she texted her family, 'HELP ME', after being 'branded' on the arm with an iron as a warning. Bella from Billingham, County Durham, says a bag containing cannabis was checked in under her name by a gang member. Her frantic family launched a missing person hunt in Thailand after she vanished on holiday but she turned up under arrest 4,000 miles away. Her Georgian lawyer Malkhaz Salakaia claimed the gang terrorised the teenager into becoming a mule. He told The Sun: 'They told her: 'We know the addresses of your parents, we know where your 16 year old brother is.' 'They made her watch a video of a man being decapitated and told her: 'If you don't do as you are told, this is what is going to happen to you and your family.' 'She felt queasy and almost fainted but they still forced her to watch it." Bella - who wept in court on Monday as she appeared with her baby bump visible for the first time - has stressed the British father of her child was not a gang member. Brit 'drug smuggler' Bella Culley 'starving' in ex-Soviet hell prison - as she reveals pregnancy craving to celeb lawyer And she went on to describe the horror of her 'branding' to Mr Salakaia. He told The Sun: 'On the inside of her right arm there is a mark from this coercion. 'She was, so to say, branded - a hot iron was pressed on her arm. 'She was forced to do this - there was both psychological and physical pressure, the trace of which is still visible. 'As to her connection with this group, she knew several of them - they are British. 'At first she knew one, and then through him met the others. However, we have grounds to assume that this group also had local accomplices, including in Thailand.' Mr Salakaia said by the time Bella managed to send a desperate text to her family, it was too late for them to stop her disastrous journey to Georgia. 7 7 Mr Salakaia said: 'Bella sent an SMS to her family asking for help, saying: HELP ME, but by the time the family reacted it was too late 'The instruction, or rather threat, she was given consisted of the following: 'You will take this luggage and carry it from point A to point B, to this or that country, or we will kill you. 'There is no talk of any potential reward or deal — Bella was simply forced to do this. 'The speculation that one of them is the father of Bella's child does not correspond to the truth - I categorically deny this. There is no connection. 'I cannot say whether the father of the child knows about Bella's situation.' Mr Salakaia told how Bella tried in vain to raise the alarm - but discovered to her horror that Thai cops she tried to tip off were linked to the gang. He said: 'There was a very alarming episode while she was still in Bangkok. Bella seized a moment to go to some policemen - there were three of them, standing on the street. 'She told them: 'I have a problem, this is happening, there is pressure on me, help me.' 'They spoke with her for 20 minutes and then returned her exactly to the same people she had run away from. 'This allows the simplest conclusion - that this group had things arranged with the local police.' She was forced to do this - there was both psychological and physical pressure, the trace of which is still visible Malkhaz SalakaiaBella's lawyer Mr Salakaia said Bella did not see the suitcase containing 31lb of cannabis in vacuum-sealed bags until a customs officer in Georgian capital Tbilisi showed it to her. The teenager had no idea where Tbilisi was and no idea why she was there, he said. Bella, in a pink t-shirt with her hair in a bun, burst into tears at a court appearance on Monday where she was supported by her father Niel (ckd), 39, aunt Kerrie and grandad William Culley. Mr Salakaia said Bella - who was refused bail on Monday - will deny drug trafficking charges which carry a minimum sentence of 15 years in jail. Bella - who says she is happy with conditions at tough No5 Women's Penitentiary on the outskirts of Tbilisi - is next due in court on July 10. 7 7
The Sun
02-07-2025
- The Sun
Brit thugs forced ‘drug mule' Bella May Culley to watch man be beheaded…and told her ‘we'll do that to you', lawyer says
BRITISH drug mule suspect Bella Culley was shown a horrifying video of a beheading by evil drug traffickers - and warned she faced the same fate, her lawyer claimed yesterday. Backpacker Bella, 18, told her legal team that she fell into the clutches of a British-led gang of drug runners while on holiday in Thailand. 6 6 6 And she will deny knowingly importing drugs worth £200,000 into the former Soviet state of Georgia claiming she was in fear of life when she was put on the flight from Bangkok in May. Trainee nurse Bella - who got pregnant on her Far East trip - claimed the gang also threatened to harm her parents and 16-year-old brother claiming they knew where they lived. And she texted a desperate two word plea 'HELP ME' to her family after being 'branded' on the arm with an iron as a warning. Bella from Billingham, County Durham, claimed she never saw a bag containing £200,000-worth of cannabis which was checked in under her name by a gang member. Her frantic family launched a missing person hunt in Thailand after she vanished on holiday but she turned up under arrest 4,000 miles away in the former Soviet state. Her Georgian lawyer Malkhaz Salakaia claimed the gang terrorised the teenager into becoming a mule. He told The Sun: 'They told her: 'We know the addresses of your parents, we know where your 16-year-old brother is.' 'They made her watch a video of a man being decapitated and told her: 'If you don't do as you are told, this is what is going to happen to you and your family.' 'She felt queasy and almost fainted but they still forced her to watch it" Bella - who wept in court on Monday as she appeared with her baby bump visible for the first time - has stressed the British father of her child was not a gang member Brit 'drug smuggler' Bella Culley 'starving' in ex-Soviet hell prison - as she reveals pregnancy craving to celeb lawyer And she went on to describe the horror of her 'branding' to Mr Salakaia. He told The Sun: 'On the inside of her right arm there is a mark from this coercion. 'She was, so to say, branded - a hot iron was pressed on her arm. 'She was forced to do this - there was both psychological and physical pressure, the trace of which is still visible. 'As to her connection with this group, she knew several of them - they are British. 'At first she knew one, and then through him met the others. However, we have grounds to assume that this group also had local accomplices, including in Thailand.' Mr Salakaia said by the time Bella managed to send a desperate text to her family, it was too late for them to stop her disastrous journey to Georgia. Mr Salakaia said: 'Bella sent an SMS to her family asking for help, saying: HELP ME, but by the time the family reacted it was too late. 6 6 6 'The instruction, or rather threat, she was given consisted of the following: 'You will take this luggage and carry it from point A to point B, to this or that country, or we will kill you. 'There is no talk of any potential reward or deal — Bella was simply forced to do this. 'The speculation that one of them is the father of Bella's child does not correspond to the truth - I categorically deny this. There is no connection. 'I cannot say whether the father of the child knows about Bella's situation.' Mr Salakaia told how Bella tried in vain to raise the alarm - but discovered to her horror that Thai cops she tried to tip off were linked to the gang. He said: 'There was a very alarming episode while she was still in Bangkok. Bella seized a moment to go to some policemen - there were three of them, standing on the street. 'She told them: 'I have a problem, this is happening, there is pressure on me, help me.' 'They spoke with her for 20 minutes and then returned her exactly to the same people she had run away from. 'This allows the simplest conclusion - that this group had things arranged with the local police.' Mr Salakaia said Bella did not see the suitcase containing 31lb of cannabis in vacuum-sealed bags until a customs officer in Georgian capital Tbilisi showed it to her. The teenager had no idea where Tbilisi was and no idea why she was there, he said. Mr Salakaia told The Sun: 'They marked this luggage, approached Bella and asked her: 'Is this your luggage?' 'She said: 'This was sent, it is not mine, I do not know what this is, but I was told I would be met, but who, I don't know.' 'When she was leaving they told her that the person who should meet her would have her photo and her mission would be complete. 'It would have been better for Bella to come out and then be detained - after all, she was already under surveillance anyway. 'They would have seen who was to meet her. In this case the operation stopped with Bella - the full stop was put prematurely. 'The luggage was not checked in by her - her luggage was checked in by someone else. The luggage was simply registered to her.' Bella, in a pink t-shirt with her hair in a bun, burst into tears at a court appearance on Monday where she was supported by her father Niel, 39, aunt Kerrie and grandad William Culley. Mr Salakaia said Bella - who was refused bail on Monday - will deny drug trafficking charges which carry a minimum sentence of 15 years in jail. The high profile lawyer - a former investigator who worked on the assassination attempts on former Georgian President Shevardnadze - said he would push for a fine and deportation. Bella - who says she is happy with conditions at tough No5 Women's Penitentiary on the outskirts of Tbilisi - is next due in court on July 10. Inside the dark world of Brit 'drug mules' A SLEW of drug mule arrests involving Brits have emerged in the last few months. In April and May, two Brit women were arrested abroad for alleged drug smuggling. Bella was the first after she allegedly tried to smuggle a suitcase of weed into Georgia. Meanwhile, former air stewardess Charlotte May Lee was also caught allegedly trying to smuggle drugs worth £1.2million into Sri Lanka. Her two suitcases were said to have been stuffed with 46kg of a synthetic cannabis strain known as kush — which is 25 times more potent than opioid fentanyl. If found guilty, South Londoner Charlotte could face a 25-year sentence. As a young mum was detained in Germany for allegedly smuggling cannabis in her bags on a flight from Thailand - in yet another shocking case. Glamorous Cameron Bradford, 21, from Knebworth, Herts, was detained at Munich Airport on April 21 as she tried to collect her luggage. It comes as a Brit couple claiming to be tourists from Thailand have been busted with more than 33kg of cannabis in their suitcases at a Spanish airport. The pair were picked out by suspicious cops at Valencia Airport after displaying a 'nervous and evasive attitude' and are now behind bars on drug trafficking charges. Experts told The Sun how wannabe Brit Insta stars are being lured by cruel gangs into carting drugs across the world. Then last month, a six-year-old British boy was arrested in Mauritius suspected of smuggling part of a £1.6million dope haul stuffed inside his wheelie case. The lad was picked up by customs officials along with his mum and five other Brits as they arrived on the tropical island. Authorities branded the use of a child in the audacious drug smuggling plot as 'inhumane".
Daily Mail
09-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Knocked up then locked up: Woman is caught smuggling drugs in fake baby bump
A Colombian drug mule pretending to be pregnant was busted by cops after she was caught with a huge stash of narcotics in a pretend baby bump. The 27-year-old suspect was arrested on board a bus in the city of Cali after police discovered that she was wearing a latex belly, in which they found her to be hiding up to 5,600 individual doses of cocaine. The unnamed woman is said to have travelled from Narino in south-west Colombia and had been passing through Cali to reach the capital, Bogota, when she was intercepted by police. According to Colombian authorities, the sophisticated prosthetic bellies are purchased abroad by drug trafficking networks. Warning of the fake pregnancy tactic, Cali Police Commander Brigadier General Carlos Oviedo said in a statement: 'These types of garments are used as costume accessories or disguises to simulate pregnancies. 'Drug trafficking networks are purchasing them abroad for approximately [£590]. 'Once they arrive in the country, criminals replace the material of the fake gestational sac with illegal drugs and contact human couriers to arrange for the shipments to different cities in our country', he added. She had up to 5,600 individual doses of cocaine inside her latex belly Another official involved in the investigation told local press: 'This is a concerning new tactic.' 'These false bellies are not just props - they're part of a calculated effort to exploit human empathy and avoid suspicion.' Investigators are now working to determine whether the suspect is part of a larger network operating along high-traffic routes between Narino and Bogota. This is not the first time Colombian drug mules have been busted hiding narcotics in fake baby bumps. Back in 2022, five women were arrested after cops caught one of them concealing cocaine in a fake belly. Agents spotted that the woman was pretending to be pregnant while passing through security at Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport in the coastal city of Barranquilla. The woman, who was traveling with the rest of the suspects to Bogota, was pulled aside for a secondary inspection. Airport police detected several plastic wrapped bundles of the Type A party drug wrapped around her abdomen and placed her under arrest. Subsequently, the flight was temporarily grounded at the gate, allowing officers to search her four female companions, who also had the cocaine packages over their bellies. At least one of the women went inside the airplane's bathroom and removed three cocaine bundles before she was also busted. In all, authorities were able to seize 14 bundles of cocaine and confiscated an unknown amount of psychedelic drugs that Contreras was in possession of. Cocaine production in Colombia has been rising since 2013, according to the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime. A report published in October by the international organization found that the cultivation of coca bushes increased by 10 percent in Colombia in 2023, while potential cocaine production increased 53% from the previous year. While a 2016 peace agreement with the FARC rebels aimed to curb coca cultivation in rural areas, smaller armed groups have filled the power vacuum, actively promoting the lucrative cocaine trade.
Daily Mail
07-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Border Force officers left stunned with find in French teenager's suitcase at Aussie airport
An 18-year-old French woman could face life behind bars after allegedly bringing more than 10kg of methamphetamine into Australia on a flight from Paris. Australian Border Force (ABF) officials detained the teen upon arrival at Perth Airport on April 25, allegedly with plans to travel onwards to Sydney. Australian Federal Police (AFP) allege border officials discovered five sealed, plastic pouches inside her suitcase containing a white, crystalline substance. Initial testing of the substance, estimated to weigh 10.7kg, allegedly returned a positive result for methamphetamine. Border officials immediately reported the results to the AFP, who then seized the 18-year-old's suitcase and contents for testing along with her mobile phone. AFP and ABF released footage of the casually-dressed woman being escorted to an unmarked police vehicle by two officers while handcuffed. Separate images also showed the woman standing beside her opened suitcase during an inspection and seated across from two officials in an interview room. Authorities also released images of the plastic pouches allegedly removed from her suitcase. Federal police charged the woman with one count of importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. ABF acting superintendent Tim Sutton said border officials would continue to search for passengers suspected of acting as drug mules or smugglers. 'The ABF is at the frontline protecting Australia's border from these acts and we work closely with our law enforcement partners to make sure these plans are thwarted,' he said. The detainee appeared in Northbridge Magistrates Court in Perth on April 26 and was remanded in custody to reappear on Friday.
