British Bella May Culley 18, Pattaya Thailand 10th May

[Anastasia101]

Given her last location, I’d be inclined to think it’s the country Georgia.

Very silly, with potentially very serious consequences.

 

[Lucy6226]

Who? BMC clearly met someone who gave her drugs to carry. That someone was very likely the person who funded the "free" trip. What's not clear is whether Georgia was the ultimate destination or merely a layover on the way to another destination, in which case the drugs were probably found during baggage transfer to another plane.

Or do you mean the woman she was travelling with, about whom there seems to have been nothing since they were touring the Philippines?

No idea! Just theorising why she went missing and stopped all contact suddenly.

Maybe she went out there for genuine reasons and was approached by someone, maybe she'd already did a trip...was told she needed to do another but didn't want to take the risk so went 'missing'.

Of course there's a possibility she was arrested for the whole missing period and it just took time to find that out.

All moo

 

[MelmothTheLost]

I'm sure her parents are relieved she's alive (and hopefully, relatively safe). I feel particularly dense wondering which Georgia she's been arrested in, but drug laws in either location might not take her crimes lightly. Was she coerced? Was this something she was just doing this one time? How was she caught!? I have so many questions.

This will be Georgia in the Caucasus - formerly part of the USSR.

No, it's very unlikely that she was coerced though she is almost certain to claim she was. She will have been "groomed" online and promised a free holiday to SE Asia. Being young and stupid, she won't have stopped to wonder what the catch was until her handler met her in Bangkok to hand over the drugs. Maybe at that stage a case could be made for coercion in the sense that she would have found it almost impossible to refuse, but I go back to the point about why she might have thought that this really was a no-strings-attached free holiday. It's not as though similar cases aren't in the UK news quite regularly.

She will also have been very aware of the case of Lindsay Sandiford, a middle aged woman from Redcar (about 10 miles from Billingham) who has been on death row in Indonesia for around 10 years for drug smuggling.

Lindsay Sandiford - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Another British woman BK aged 19 also arrested for drugs in Georgia today:

British woman faces life in jail after accused of smuggling cannabis

The woman - identified as B.K. - could face 20 years jail or even life imprisonment, said the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

www.dailymail.co.uk

I wonder if that is her travelling companion. It seems likely, bearing in mind that unlikelihood of two independent arrests in the same small county at the same time.

 

[swanniee11]

The sun UK has an article that gives details regarding the friend etc however I don't know if its considered MSM or gossip news. LOL

 

[Lucy6226]

The sun UK has an article that gives details regarding the friend etc however I don't know if its considered MSM or gossip news. LOL

I believe the Sun UK is not an approved source. Other MSM is fine though

 

[Sarahlou]

Another British woman BK aged 19 also arrested for drugs in Georgia today:

British woman faces life in jail after accused of smuggling cannabis

The woman - identified as B.K. - could face 20 years jail or even life imprisonment, said the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

www.dailymail.co.uk

I think it's the same girl? Going by this article anyway, they've used the same photos

Update on Brit 'missing in Thailand' as she's found 4,000 miles away

Bella May Culley, 18, sparked a massive international search operation this week as she hadn't been in touch with her family since Saturday.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Seni]

Yes, you are right, updated DM article shows the same photos. Altho one girl looks much slimmer than the other. We will know more in the following days!

 

[MollyHarps]

How stupid of this girl - thrown her life away.

I’m guessing it’ll turn out to be like Michaella McCollum and Melissa Reid from a few years back (except there’s was Peru)

Met somebody on holiday in Philippines.. had a ‘holiday’ paid for in Thailand and in return had to smuggle drugs to Georgia (or another country and that was a transfer airport)

If the drugs were for Georgia then she was always going to get caught - A pretty young blonde female sole traveller who has just travelled Philippines and Thailand is hardly going to choose Georgia for her next destination - would always raise suspicions

 

[CityKid]

Brit tourist, 18, missing for 4 days is arrested in Georgia on 'drug offences'

Hopefully this is okay to post now that it’s in MSM

Per the mother in that Sun link, according to her mother, "But when her pal went to Ibiza, Bella decided to split off because "she doesn't drink that much and isn't really into the party lifestyle"."

 

[Kittypoo]

This will be Georgia in the Caucasus - formerly part of the USSR.

No, it's very unlikely that she was coerced though she is almost certain to claim she was. She will have been "groomed" online and promised a free holiday to SE Asia. Being young and stupid, she won't have stopped to wonder what the catch was until her handler met her in Bangkok to hand over the drugs. Maybe at that stage a case could be made for coercion in the sense that she would have found it almost impossible to refuse, but I go back to the point about why she might have thought that this really was a no-strings-attached free holiday. It's not as though similar cases aren't in the UK news quite regularly.

She will also have been very aware of the case of Lindsay Sandiford, a middle aged woman from Redcar (about 10 miles from Billingham) who has been on death row in Indonesia for around 10 years for drug smuggling.

Lindsay Sandiford - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I bet the Thai/Georgian jail will be a life changing experience anyway.
So gullible
IMO

 

[whitelilac]

Wow, this I did not expect. Then when Georgia came up, I thought initially it was police in Georgia STATE who were informed she was arrested in Thailand. BUT, then I realized she's a Brit of course. duh.
18 years old...wth was she thinking?? Her parents must be appalled and distraught.

 

[jillolantern]

It is thought

I wonder why it isn't known.

 

[Seni]

Wow, this I did not expect. Then when Georgia came up, I thought initially it was police in Georgia STATE who were informed she was arrested in Thailand. BUT, then I realized she's a Brit of course. duh.
18 years old...wth was she thinking?? Her parents must be appalled and distraught.

Possibly already sold their story to the Sun

 

[truthfinder2019]

Another British woman BK aged 19 also arrested for drugs in Georgia today:

British woman faces life in jail after accused of smuggling cannabis

The woman - identified as B.K. - could face 20 years jail or even life imprisonment, said the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

www.dailymail.co.uk

It is her I think, same person, same quantity of cannabis, same airport arrest (same physical appearance)

Brit faces LIFE in prison after being accused of smuggling cannabis

Bella May Culley, 18, sparked a massive international search operation in recent days after she was reported missing while she was believed to be holidaying in Thailand.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[truthfinder2019]

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/shock-update-on-british-teenager-who-vanished-while-holidaying-in-thailand/news-story/c8b0b97ac2b9d45cca3eec60532eac14

Brit teen faces life in hellhole jail after arrest abroad 'on drug offences'

Bella May Culley, from Billingham, County Durham, was reported missing in Thailand but it has now emerged she has been detained more than 4,000 miles away in Georgia

www.mirror.co.uk

The investigation is in progress under Article 262, Part IV, Subparagraph "a", Article 260, Part III, Subparagraph "a", and Article 273, Part VI, of the Criminal Code of Georgia.

Police arrested a foreign citizen on charges of illegally importing a particularly large amount of narcotics into Georgia

Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia,

police.ge

Detention conditions in Georgia​

Georgia: prisoner pack

www.gov.uk

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Detention conditions in Georgia​

Georgia: prisoner pack

www.gov.uk

Georgia is a candidate to join the EU, although that candidature has been suspended due to political turmoil in recent years. As such, I would expect its prison system to be being improved and developed to bring it in line with EU expectations.

 

[Kittypoo]

Possibly already sold their story to the Sun

Someone also mentioned a go fund me. They should be made to pay for the massive international search out of this.

 

[Anastasia101]

Brit faces LIFE in prison after being accused of smuggling cannabis

There are a number of charges. Snipped from article:

Carrying 30 pounds (14kg) of cannabis into Georgia. In '34 hermetically sealed packages containing marijuana in passenger’s bag and 20 packages of hashish’

Reportedly charged with illegally purchasing and storing a particularly large amount of narcotics, illegally purchasing and storing the narcotic drug marijuana, and illegally importing it into Georgia.

 

[Lucy6226]

Brit faces LIFE in prison after being accused of smuggling cannabis

There are a number of charges. Snipped from article:

Carrying 30 pounds (14kg) of cannabis into Georgia. In '34 hermetically sealed packages containing marijuana in passenger’s bag and 20 packages of hashish’

Reportedly charged with illegally purchasing and storing a particularly large amount of narcotics, illegally purchasing and storing the narcotic drug marijuana, and illegally importing it into Georgia.

That's rather a lot for 'personal use'