British woman faces up to 20 years in Cambodian prison over 34.5kg cannabis seizure

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — A 31-year-old British woman could face up to 20 years in a Cambodian prison after she was arrested at Techo International Airport with 71 packages of cannabis weighing 34.5 kilograms allegedly hidden in her luggage.

The Sun reported that Tamara Martins, from Croydon, said she had been unknowingly recruited to smuggle drugs and only discovered the cannabis when airport officials searched her bags.

Martins said a man approached her at a bar and offered to pay her to take a suitcase containing electronic equipment back to the United Kingdom.

Her brother, Trey, who is caring for Martins’ 10-year-old daughter, said he did not know she was in Cambodia until she called him in tears.

“She was very panicked and confused,” he said, adding that his sister had no previous criminal record.

He said they were able to speak during the first few days of her detention at a tourist holding centre, but her phone was confiscated after she was transferred to a women’s prison.

Martins is reportedly being held with more than 60 other detainees, with some sleeping on the floor. In a letter to her brother, she described prison conditions as “hell” and said she was struggling to sleep and eat.

According to the UK Foreign Office, 355 British nationals are detained in Southeast Asia after being accused of acting as drug mules. Drug-smuggling arrests involving Britons overseas more than quadrupled between 2023 and 2025.

The Foreign Office warned that recruits are often told luggage contains clothes, gold or cash, when it actually contains drugs.