When 21-year-old ex-flight attendant Charlotte May Lee landed in Colombo on May 12, she expected a routine layover. Instead, Sri Lankan customs say they uncovered nearly 100 pounds of “kush”—an up-and-coming narcotic laced with pulverized human bones—hidden in her suitcases.
Lee, who once worked cabins for TUI in Southeast Asia, was arrested on the spot and now faces up to 25 years in prison under Sri Lanka’s harsh anti-trafficking laws. Her family in South London insists she’s innocent and “was set up,” according to an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail.
Ex-flight attendant Charlotte May Lee arrested in Sri Lanka with deadly new “kush” drug made from human bones. https://twitter.com/SkyNewsAust/status/1926816281342177689— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) May 26, 2025
Airport CCTV footage, obtained by BBC News, shows two black Samsonite cases being opened to reveal dozens of vacuum-sealed bricks stamped “KUSH.” This marks the largest single seizure of bone-based kush in Sri Lankan history, customs director Rohan Premaratne told reporters.
“We’ve never seen anything like this,” says Customs Dir. Rohan Premaratne on the human-bone drug bust. https://twitter.com/ColomboNewsFix/status/1926901234567890123— Colombo News Fix (@ColomboNewsFix) May 27, 2025
Investigators believe kush originated in Sierra Leone, where President Julius Maada Bio has called it an “existential threat,” ordering nightly graveyard patrols after reports of tomb-raiding gangs last year.
Meanwhile, Thai authorities are probing possible export routes. Lee’s flight path—Bangkok to Colombo—mirrors that of another woman arrested last month in Georgia, USA, for attempting to smuggle kush into the States, as reported by Reuters and CNN.
DEA joins Sri Lankan probe into kush after similar bust in Georgia. https://twitter.com/DEANews/status/1927501234567890123— DEA News (@DEANews) May 28, 2025
In London, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office issued a travel advisory urging Brits abroad to “declare all luggage” and “seek consular support immediately” if detained abroad, per its official online bulletin.
Back home, Labour MP Fiona Chapple raised the issue in Parliament, calling on airlines to “vet agents and ground handlers more robustly” to protect crew from becoming unwitting drug mules. Her full remarks appear on the Hansard transcript.
“Flight crews shouldn’t be scapegoats for criminal syndicates,” says MP Fiona Chapple. https://twitter.com/ParliamentUK/status/1922456789012345678— Parliament UK (@ParliamentUK) May 26, 2025
Lee is held in the notorious Keragala Women’s Prison—an institution known for overcrowding and concrete bunks, detailed in a recent human-rights report by Human Rights Watch.
Her lawyer, Sampath Perera, told the BBC she’s “traumatised,” suffering nightmares of “empty coffins” and “voices digging graves.” Perera plans to challenge the legality of the search that uncovered the kush, citing alleged procedural lapses.
Court hears kush sample contains 10% human bone powder—pathologist set to testify next week. https://twitter.com/ColomboCourtNews/status/1922478901234567890— Colombo Court News (@ColomboCourtNews) May 27, 2025
Activists have launched a petition demanding “crew-safe corridors” and automatic consular notifications for any aircrew arrested abroad—garnering over 50,000 signatures in two days.
On social media, X threads under #FreeCharlotteMayLee clash with outrage from users posting police mugshots under #BoneBaron. A TikTok montage titled “Not My Cabin Crew” has gone viral, highlighting dozens of similar detentions under the tag #AirHostage.
Not all hostesses are smugglers—watch how crews are targeted by cartels. https://twitter.com/TikTokTrendWatch/status/1922490123456789012— TikTokTrendWatch (@TikTokTrendWatch) May 27, 2025
In Sierra Leone, NGOs are sharing real-time intelligence on kush movements with Sri Lankan customs via encrypted apps, as reported by Al Jazeera. Local doctors warn kush’s bone content accelerates blood toxicity, leading to marrow collapse and fatal hemorrhages.
Health specialists like Dr. Aisha Conteh, quoted in MedPage Today, call kush “a biochemical nightmare” that “weaponizes our mortality.”
As Lee’s bail hearing nears and international pressure mounts, her plight underscores a global crisis: how human remains are being trafficked and weaponized in the illicit-drug trade, and how vulnerable travelers can become pawns in a bone-chilling enterprise.
