British teen arrested in Georgia for drug offences

8 hours ago 1

Tom Burgess

BBC News, North East and Cumbria

Rayhan Demytrie

Caucasus correspondent

Georgia Police Bella Culley who is an 18-year-old girl, is being escorted into a police station by a female police officer. The British teenager is wearing white shorts and a white top and she is in handcuffs. Her face has been blurred by police to disguise her identity.

A British teenager has been arrested in Tbilisi, Georgia, on suspicion of drug offences.

Bella Culley, 18, from Billingham, who is understood to have gone missing in Thailand, is accused of illegally buying, possessing and importing large quantities of narcotics including marijuana.

Georgian Police have said, if found guilty, she could face up to 20 years in jail or life imprisonment.

The Foreign Office have confirmed that they are "supporting the family of a British woman who is detained in Georgia".

Georgian Police said it had seized up to 12kg (26lbs) of marijuana and just over 2kg (4.4lbs) of the narcotic drug hashish in a travel bag at Tbilisi International Airport.

A spokesperson said: "As a result of joint operational measures and investigative actions, officers of the Main Directorate for Combating Illicit Drug Trafficking of the Central Criminal Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Customs Department of the Revenue Service of the Ministry of Finance arrested a British citizen on charges of drug trafficking.

The woman "is charged with the illegal purchase and possession of a particularly large amount of narcotics, the illegal purchase and possession of the narcotic drug marijuana, and the illegal importation of the drug into Georgia", they said.

Cleveland Police has confirmed an 18-year-old woman from Billingham has been arrested in Georgia "on suspicion of drugs offences" and remains in custody.

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