A British mother is facing up to 20 years in a Cambodian prison after being caught attempting to leave the country with 34.5kg of cannabis in her luggage.
Tamara Martins, from Croydon, claims she was the victim of a ‘set up’, after she was approached by a man in a bar who asked her to transport a suitcase full of electronics back to the UK for a fee.
The 31-year-old claims she only found out about the drugs when she was stopped at Techo Airport, where authorities uncovered 71 packages of marijuana in her cases.
Cambodia has a zero-tolerance policy for all drug offences, meaning the country treats these crimes very seriously, and people can receive life sentences for drug trafficking.
The Daily Mail spoke to Tamara’s younger brother Trey, 29, who is now caring for Tamara’s ten-year-old daughter and fighting to get his sister legal support from over 6,000 miles away.
‘I didn’t even know she was in Cambodia until she called me,’ he said, ‘All I heard was her crying. She said, “I’ve been arrested. I’ve been arrested.”
‘She was extremely erratic. She was upset, asking if I could do anything to help, and saying how sorry she was.’
Trey was shocked. ‘She’s never been arrested for anything to do with drugs and she’s never been involved in that sort of stuff,’ he said.
Tamara Martins, 31, from Croydon, is facing up to two decades behind bars in Cambodia
Tamara is separated from her ten-year-old daughter back in London (Pictured)
Tamara was able to stay in contact with Trey for the first few days while at the tourist detention centre.
‘At first, she said the officers had been kind and nice to her. They let her use her phone and smoke,’ her brother said.
The 31-year-old was then transferred to CC2 women’s prison where her phone was confiscated and conditions deeply deteriorated.
In a letter written to Trey from his sister seen by the Daily Mail, Tamara said: ‘It’s hell in here. I haven’t been able to sleep, eat or anything.
‘I have to try and not think so much about life at home otherwise I’ll die from a broken heart… It’s really difficult and hard to to see the light at the end of the tunnel.’
She asked for money to be sent, writing: ‘The circumstances are so bad, without money here you are in the gutter.’
According to Trey, his sister is unable to get proper food, clothes or sanitary products without money.
She is reportedly being held in a cell with over 66 people, many forced to sleep on a hard floor because there are not enough bunk beds.
She has no undergarments and had to borrow underwear from another prisoner.
In a report seen by the Daily Mail of a consular visit carried out by members of the British Embassy, Tamara expressed fear about sharing accommodation with inmates suffering from HIV and other illnesses.
For Tamara, who works as a model booker in London, one of the hardest parts of her predicament is being separated from her ten-year-old daughter.
She is wondering where her mum is, Trey says, but he has not told her the truth about the situation, instead telling the child Tamara has been stuck in a blackout.
‘She doesn’t know that her mum has been arrested. She’s calm. I’ve told her, “Your mum’s all right. She’s good. Don’t worry about it. She’s doing the best she can”.’
Trey describes his sister as a ‘kind’ person who will ‘always be there for you’.
‘My sister and I didn’t always get on, but I would give my heart or my lung to her. I would swap places with her right now if I could. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy,’ he says.
Tamara is now one of the 355 Brits detained in Southeast Asia after being accused of being recruited as drug mules.
Young people are lured by gangs and often incentivised to carry luggage for a fee without knowing its contents.
Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty issued a warning earlier this year of harsh treatment if detained overseas.
Mr Doughty said: ‘No holiday, payment or opportunity is worth risking your freedom, your future or your life.’
He added: ‘Detainees are warning about the dire living conditions they now face decades of in prison or, in some countries, the possibility of the death penalty.’
Tamara is now one of the 355 Brits detained in Southeast Asia after being recruited as drug mules
Trey (pictured) is doing anything possible to get his sister legal support to try and bring her home
According to research commissioned by the Foreign Office, a staggering third of young Brits surveyed did not consider travelling with a suitcase packed by someone else to be a risk.
Trey, who now faces the possibility of being separated from his sister for decades, has urged Britons travelling abroad to exercise extreme caution in Cambodia.
‘The same people who did this to her, who approached her – where are they? They’re just going to escape and move on to the next person because nobody knows them, nobody knows where they’re from and nobody knows how to contact them.
‘It’s free game for them. The person at the other end who has to deal with it is her.
‘In hindsight, you can say she was an idiot for accepting something like that, but people make choices for whatever reasons. They can’t always be good choices. It’s a shame.’
Laura Bevan, Director of Prisoner and Family Support at Prisoners Abroad, said the organisation is supporting the highest ever number of people facing the death penalty linked to drug arrests.
‘Sentences for drugs offences are much harsher than we would expect here in the UK, and this includes the death penalty in some places,’ she told the Daily Mail.
‘We have heard anecdotal stories from family members that their relative has been led into carrying drugs after being promised a free or cheap holiday abroad, coerced by a new group they have become involved with, or duped at the end of the holiday into carrying drugs without feeling they have the option to say no.
Bevan said that arrests for drug-related offences by 46 per cent to 355 cases in the last year.
‘The demographic of the people arrested on these charges was also markedly different from what we are used to seeing, with 28 per cent of the new arrests being women and 67 per cent under 35,’ she added.
‘The number of new cases of women in prison increased overall by 82 per cent last year with 115 new cases compared to 63 the year before. 61 per cent of women were detained on drug-related offences, compared to 44 per cent of men.’
Trey has set up a GoFundMe to cover his sister’s legal fees, which can be found here.
An FCDO Spokesperson told the Daily Mail: ‘We are supporting a British National detained in Cambodia and are in contact with the local authorities.’
