High stakes: Teesside teen busted in cannabis smuggle shock
British family’s search in Thailand ends in shock arrest 4,000 miles away
A Teesside teen feared missing in Thailand has turned up 4,000 miles away, busted in handcuffs and facing a possible life sentence after allegedly trying to smuggle a massive haul of cannabis into the ex-Soviet state of Georgia.
Bella May Culley, from Billingham, County Durham, in the North-East of England, sparked a frantic international search after vanishing during what was thought to be a holiday in Thailand. But while her distraught family scrambled for answers in Bangkok, the 18 year old was being marched into the Central Criminal Police Department in Tbilisi, Georgia, arrested on suspicion of serious drug offences.
The former Middlesbrough College student, who recently completed a nursing course, was reportedly caught with 14kg of cannabis at Tbilisi International Airport. Georgian officials say she triggered a scanner check and, during a search, officers uncovered 34 sealed packs of marijuana and 20 more of hashish in her luggage.
The teenager now faces charges of illegally purchasing, storing and importing a particularly large amount of narcotics. The Georgian Interior Ministry confirmed the teenage family’s worst fears.
“The committed crime envisions up to 20 years, or life imprisonment.”
Footage broadcast by Georgian news channels showed the teen being escorted into custody in handcuffs.
While she asked for bail, a judge denied the request, citing her as a flight risk.
Back home, Culley’s family say they were left stunned by the twist. Her mum, Lyanne Kennedy, said the teen had been in regular contact before suddenly going dark on Saturday.
“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 just want her home and safe or to hear her gorgeous little voice.”
Kennedy said she had a bad feeling before her daughter’s trip.
“I really didn’t want her to go to Thailand. I begged her to come home. I don’t trust some of the boys over there. But she wanted to meet up with some friends she made over there on a previous trip. I don’t know who any of them are.”
The teenager last posted a photo to Facebook on Monday, May 5, and her phone was believed to be switched off around the Pattaya area, a detail that threw Thai officials and her family off the scent, The Daily Mail reported.
Her father, Neil Culley, and aunt Kerrie even flew to Thailand to join the search. The teen’s father reportedly visited a police station in Bangkok, where he was told to contact the country’s immigration bureau to help track her movements, said Culley.
“When she stopped answering messages I assumed it was because she was flying back to surprise me. But then nothing.”
The family had even contacted the airline, who confirmed Culley had attempted to book a flight back to the UK via Frankfurt but the payment never went through, said Kennedy.
“We think she was last near Pattaya, and was supposed to fly back from Bangkok but I never heard anything about picking her up.”
Now, instead of a tearful reunion at the airport, the family are left facing the terrifying prospect of Bella spending decades behind bars in a foreign prison.
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