Brit Faces 10-Year Turkey Drug Sentence After Thai Trip

He can make Midnight Express 2 when he gets out

Too young to know about 'Midnight Express' from 1978.

Apparently this MENSA member never saw “Midnight Express””

3 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Or the rather old now 'Midnight Express'.

I had to leave the theater for about 10 minutes during one scene. Never ever would I do what that kid did for anything!

“I apologise. Had I known that the suitcase contained drugs, I would never have done such a thing.”

Who in their right mind carries luggage that they did not pack themselves? Of course he knew he was carrying drugs.

1 hour ago, ronnie50 said:

Yes, but why does the photo show (presumably the couple) retrieving a suitcase at IST airport? Wouldn't it be checked straight through to UK? Separate tickets? if so, then that's even riskier isn't it?

Sometimes the country / airlines requires you to take your luggage out and recheck to new flight. Especially if it is two different airlines. This could be the case, but I can't say because I don't know the details. I looked into a flight from Phuket to Ho Chi Minh City to somewhere else in VN and different airlines so check and recheck luggage. I didn't do it because too much hassle. However, not a smart option for someone smuggling drugs though.

The first question that comes in my mind is, how did he get this suitcase through customs in Thailand. There must be something wrong with checking. Secondly why carry a suitcase that is not yours filled with shady things in black. Why not go to the police if you ate being threatened after an accident?

And why did the Turkish customs find the drugs while Thailand not

2 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

Did you used to hide behind the sofa when the Daleks appeared on Dr Who?......Snowflake

First of all, was that comment really necessary? Second, did you see the movie? Third, my point was....never mind, it went right by you.

Is a kilo of marijuana really worth £14,000 ???

23 minutes ago, Smokey and the Bandit said:

possibly a highly sophisticated psychological trap designed by professional predators.

That's very probably what happens, to put it simply they get scammed, Many older and wiser people have been scammed, in many cases they have freely handed over huge sums of money on the basis of a telephone call, Scamming is a sophisticated business many get conned about as many as say "it won't happen to me "

1 minute ago, Front Row said:

Is a kilo of marijuana really worth £14,000 ???

No it is not unless it changes hands dozens of times and gets sold on council estates in tiny £5 deals

Troll posts removed.

@Bday Prang discuss the topic without the constant attempt to just bait and antagonise other poster.

4 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

A British man arrested at Istanbul Airport with cannabis worth an estimated GBP280,000 in his suitcase is facing a minimum prison sentence of ten years in Turkey. Taylor Johnson, 21, from Wednesbury in the West Midlands, was stopped on 26 April while travelling from Thailand to the UK via Istanbul with his girlfriend, Holly Cooper, 21.

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Investigators discovered 19.2kg of cannabis packed in 17 black vacuum-sealed bags after a sniffer dog alerted officers to Johnson’s luggage. Although Cooper was arrested alongside him, no drugs or illegal items were found in her suitcase.

The couple appeared before the Gaziosmanpasa Criminal Court in Istanbul last week. Prosecutors asked the court to convict both defendants of “manufacturing and trafficking narcotic or psychotropic substances”, an offence carrying a minimum sentence of ten years.

Johnson told the court he had been forced into transporting the suitcase and claimed he was unaware it contained drugs. Speaking through an interpreter, he said a man who had obtained his details following a car accident threatened him and his family, demanded GBP3,000, and instructed him to travel to Thailand to collect what he believed was a specially designed suitcase.

Johnson said a Chinese man delivered the locked suitcase to his hotel on the final night of the trip. He told the court he only learned what was inside after arriving in Turkey. In a final statement, he said: “I apologise. Had I known that the suitcase contained drugs, I would never have done such a thing.”

Cooper told the court she believed the pair were simply on holiday and had no knowledge of the contents of Johnson’s luggage. She said she bought her own airline ticket, spent the trip sightseeing and swimming, and was unaware of any threats against her boyfriend. When questioned about Johnson returning with a different suitcase, she said she assumed he had purchased a replacement after his original luggage was damaged on a previous trip.

Defence lawyer Bilgehan Berk argued that no illegal items were found in Cooper’s possession and that travelling with Johnson did not prove she knew about the drugs. The judge accepted her account, ordered her release and allowed her to return to the UK.

Johnson remains in custody at Maltepe Prison, where he is housed with other British inmates. Berk said reports that Johnson had been assaulted in prison were untrue and that he was safe.

The case has attracted attention in the UK, where relatives described the arrest as a nightmare for both families. A family friend said the couple were “good kids” and suggested Johnson may have been manipulated by a trafficking gang.

The Sun reported that Johnson is due to be sentenced in July. His lawyer has indicated that, if convicted, an application will be made for him to serve any prison term in the UK.

Picture courtesy of The Sun

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Congrats❗ Have a good time in a Turkish prison💗

You cannot fit 280,000 GBP of cannabis flower into a suitcase. Pricing in Thailand is like 150 baht a gram for decent sensimilla. You would wind up with about 180 pounds of weight in a suitcase.

2 hours ago, rocketboy2 said:

Sorry for your sense of humor failure.

I can't laugh at anybody with Rupert Lowe as their handle.

6 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

Johnson told the court he had been forced into transporting the suitcase and claimed he was unaware it contained drugs. Speaking through an interpreter, he said a man who had obtained his details following a car accident threatened him and his family, demanded GBP3,000, and instructed him to travel to Thailand to collect what he believed was a specially designed suitcase.

The suspicious part of the story...

3 hours ago, mikebell said:

Does this mean Thai authorities missed 19 kgs at BKK?

Why would they do anything? It's legal in Thailand. They could just confiscate it anyway and the traffickers would just try again, according to customs officers in another story I read.

2 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

And I suppose watching reefer madness should teach them why society needs protecting

No, some never take heed no matter what they see and hear. hence the results.

35 minutes ago, Ebumbu said:

You cannot fit 280,000 GBP of cannabis flower into a suitcase. Pricing in Thailand is like 150 baht a gram for decent sensimilla. You would wind up with about 180 pounds of weight in a suitcase.

50 to 80 baht a gram in a sensibly priced shop in Phuket. 50 baht for 10g of Thai stick. For 19kg at 280,000 pounds worth that's just over 13 pounds a gram in the UK?

No, I think the usual response is that the drugs were not in the case when they checked in.

There have also been an increasing number of stories of airport personnel adding drugs to luggage, to be picked up by accomplices working at the airport on the other end before the bags even hit the carousel.

Not saying that happened here... I'm more inclined to believe the guy's extortion story, after a car wreck.

4 hours ago, mikebell said:

Does this mean Thai authorities missed 19 kgs at BKK?

No, what I think is that the Thais had a suspicion or knew, but decided that it was just as easy to let Turkey handle the court cases and all the bad PR from the British newspapers. If youtake a look at some of the immigration of other countries you see that they soetimes have a name seat and description.

Remember taking Canibis out of the country is a slap on the wrist. Smuggling it through is a different story.

3 hours ago, connda said:

Suggested Reading for anyone considering being a drug mule transiting Turkey. Of course, most people don't read anymore, so - nevermind.

Was a great movie as well.

Thailand must let them get through so they have less paperwork to do and just tip of the next country they planned to stop in.

7 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

forced into transporting the suitcase and claimed he was unaware it contained drugs

Wouldn't been "forced" motivate him to check inside of the suitcase for anything illegal? But instead he trusts someone who forces him into an action.

7 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

Had I known that the suitcase contained drugs, I would never have done such a thing.”

Maybe a strong reason to check contents?

So he's claiming that the guy who forced him to smuggle the ganja was actually paid $3,000 by him, in exchange for forcing him to smuggle drugs? Huh? Who was this guy was it Satan himself? Sounds like he had some incredible powers of persuasion.

I mean there is dumb and then there is incredibly dumb. Sometimes a mistake is wearing white to a formal event after Labor Day in New York City, and then sometimes a mistake is invading Russia before the onslaught of winter, without making sufficient preparations.

4 hours ago, Smokey and the Bandit said:

Who in their right mind would carry a suitcase not belonging to them and not knowing the contents to an international airport and board a flight to anywhere??

Check in staff seemed to have stopped asking things like 'is this your suitcase/bag', 'did you pack it Yourself' etc?

Surely alarm bells in your head would be ringing if someone even asked you to do this?

They still ask the same questions but presumably criminals lie.

I am 76 years old and started overseas travel in the early 1970's.

I have travelled and still travel extensively and have never been asked by a stranger to carry or pick up luggage that wasn't mine neither have I been threatened.

I don't know anyone who has been asked either.

This guy is stupid and will pay the price.

20 minutes ago, jcmj said:

Thailand must let them get through so they have less paperwork to do and just tip of the next country they planned to stop in.

I doubt they even tell the next country, why would they bother themselves,

4 hours ago, Purdey said:

His circle is about to be expanded considerably. And his number of friends increased.

Please stop your personal fantasy 😉

4 minutes ago, roo860 said:

Please stop your personal fantasy 😉

So many on here seem to share that particular fantasy, its actually rather weird

43 minutes ago, kingstonkid said:

No, what I think is that the Thais had a suspicion or knew, but decided that it was just as easy to let Turkey handle the court cases and all the bad PR from the British newspapers. If youtake a look at some of the immigration of other countries you see that they soetimes have a name seat and description.

Remember taking Canibis out of the country is a slap on the wrist. Smuggling it through is a different story.

I doubt Turkey will be suffering any bad PR in the British press , If the Thais knew they would have intercepted it , Tens of thousands of suitcases pass through the airport daily, even when disregarding corruption , it's not that surprising that some containing contraband get through.