A British woman who’d jetted to Thailand on holiday has now been detained 5,000 miles away and accused of drug smuggling.
Cameron Bradford was scheduled to fly home to the UK via Singapore after a holiday in the Southeast Asian tourist hotspot, with her family becoming concerned after she failed to arrive at Heathrow Airport.
The young mother’s family subsequently filed a missing person’s report and were informed that she’d been detained in Germany the following day.
According to Mail Online, Bradford had cancelled her flight home at the last minute and booked onto a flight to Munich, a move which is said to have caused suspicion amongst authorities.
It’s understood the 21-year-old was stopped in Munich airport as she attempted to collect her luggage, which allegedly contained cannabis.
She could now face several months in custody while the authorities investigate her case.
“We can confirm that we are conducting proceedings in this matter,” Anne Leiding, chief prosecutor of the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office, told the outlet.
“The defendant is still in custody.”
The office declined to confirm the exact charges which Bradford faces or confirm a trial date due to the ongoing.
The UK Foreign Office has also confirmed that Bradford has been detained in the central European country, with a spokesperson telling MailOnline: “We are supporting a British woman who is detained in Germany and are in contact with her family and the local authorities.”
According to German law, cannabis is currently legal for recreational use for residents aged over 18, following a 2024 law change.
However, this does not apply to tourists, with the maximum penalty for unauthorised personal possession being a five year sentence (via Drugpolicyfacts).
Bradford is the latest in a long line of British tourists who’ve been detained on drug charges over the past couple of months.
Last month, 18-year-old Bella May Culley was arrested in Georgia on drug smuggling charges after disappearing while on holiday to Thailand. In the same month, 21-year-old Charlotte May Lee was arrested in Sri Lanka for allegedly attempting to smuggle £1.2 million worth of drugs into the country, while 21-year-old Isabella Daggett is currently detained in Dubai after being arrested on drugs charges.
The penalties for anyone convicted of drug smuggling charges varies around the world, with several Brits facing a death sentence after being detained on the Indonesian island of Bali.
Recent detainees include trio Jonathan Christopher Collyer, Lisa Ellen Stocker and Phineas Ambrose Float, who have been accused of smuggling £272,212 worth of cocaine into the country (via The Independent).
Meanwhile, Cumbria native Thomas Parker faced drug trafficking charges after allegedly bringing over one kilogram of MDMA into the country. The charges have since been reduced to hiding information from authorities.
