Brit teenager faces life in jail after being arrested in Georgia accused of drug smuggling
by Asher McShane · LBCBy Asher McShane
A British teenager is facing life in jail in a ‘hellhole’ prison after being arrested on suspicion of smuggling 30 pounds of cannabis.
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Bella May Culley, 18, allegedly carried the drugs into Georgia, where she was detained at Tbilisi international airport.
Days earlier she was reported missing while believed to be on holiday in Thailand.
Culley could now face two decades or more behind bars in the country's only female prison, Tbilisi Prison No.5, located 45 minutes away from the ex-Soviet capital.
Cleveland Police, which had been assisting with the family's missing person's enquiry, said: "Update on Billingham woman who was reported missing overseas. We have this afternoon had confirmation from the authorities in Georgia that an 18-year-old woman from Billingham has been arrested there on suspicion of drugs offences and that she remains in their custody."
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Local media shared footage of her being led in handcuffs into a police station.
She is alleged to have "34 hermetically sealed packages containing marijuana... as well as 20 packages of hashish" in her possession at the airport.
She is thought to have lost contact with her family members during a trip to Thailand around May 3.
She had been regularly posting on social media up to that point and last shared a photo on Facebook on May 5.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) states it cannot get Brits out of jail in Georgia or help anyone get special treatment because they are British.
Its website has a page specifically about arrests in the nation, in which it states "prison conditions vary".
It states: "It is usual in Georgia for cells/dormitories to be shared. There is no set maximum number of occupants, rather it depends on the type of facility, size of the room, etc."
Before police confirmed the arrest, her mother Lyanne told Teesside Live: “She flew out to the Philippines after Easter with a friend and she was there for three weeks.
“She was posting loads of pictures and then she went to Thailand on about May 3.
“The last message she sent was to me and that was on Saturday at 5.30pm saying she was going to Facetime me later.
“That was the last message anyone has received from what we can figure out up to now.
“I’m just waiting on her dad who is now in Bangkok to get back with any more information. I just want her home and safe or to hear her gorgeous little voice.”