Newcastle man reported missing found in Cambodian jail for smuggling

A British man has been arrested in Cambodia after allegedly attempting to smuggle nearly 20kg of marijuana into the UK – just hours after he was reported missing by his girlfriend.

Robert Brown, 41, from Newcastle, had been the subject of an urgent missing persons post on social media before he was arrested at Phnom Penh International Airport on June 17.

Police found 22 packages of cannabis weighing nearly 20kg hidden inside his luggage. 

The drugs, which police believe originated from Thailand, are thought to have a street value of around £200,000.

Brown has been charged with the use, possession, trafficking, and transport of drugs under Cambodian law and has been referred to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for legal proceedings. 

If convicted, he could face a hefty prison sentence of between 20 to 30 years, Khmer Times reported.

Shortly after his arrest, the Anti-Drug Department in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, posted a statement on social media confirming a British male aged 41 had been arrested, while police had ‘seized 22 pieces of dry marijuana, equivalent to 19 kg 902 grams.’

It added that the Ministry of Anti-Narcotics ‘states that trading, transportation, storage and growing of marijuana in Cambodia is illegal as provided in the Drug Control Act 2012.’

The post included an image of Brown, with his face blurred out and apparently handcuffed, next to the massive haul of drugs allegedly found in his suitcase.

His arrest came just hours after a post, which has since been removed, was shared on a social media group for expats in Cambodia reporting him as ‘missing’.

Posted by user ‘Kasey Kasey’, the appeal stated Brown had failed to board his flight home to the UK. 

It also revealed his luggage had been left inside his hotel room in central Phnom Penh, in Cambodia’s capital city. 

The post read: ‘Missing in Cambodia. Goes by the name of Robert Brown, he’s 40 years of age, Geordie lad, broad accent. 

‘Was meant to return to the UK today, but didn’t board a plane and has left his luggage in the hotel room. 

‘Please share and hopefully he’s found thanks. He was staying at the Old Durbar Hotel Restaurant.’ 

Posts on Brown’s social media profile reveal the Newcastle native is a fan of electronic dance music and clubbing.  

A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office told MailOnline: ‘We are supporting the family of a British man who was detained in Cambodia and are in contact with the local authorities’.

The arrest is the latest in a spate of incidents involving Brits being detained abroad on charges of alleged drug smuggling. 

Earlier this month, airport officials in Mauritius swooped on seven British citizens – including a six-year-old boy – who were found to have £1.6million worth of cannabis concealed in their suitcases.

Customs officials at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Airport were stunned to discover 14 kilos of cannabis concealed in the young boy’s bag and 17 kilos in luggage belonging to another individual on June 22.

Altogether, 161 kilos of the drug were found hidden throughout several other suitcases.

Eleven numbered Apple AirTags were discovered, suggesting the operation may have been linked to an organised crime gang responsible for smuggling drugs from Europe to Mauritius.

The six arrested British adults – all from Cambridgeshire – included Laura Kappen, 28, a bar worker from Orton Goldhay, Shannon Holness, 29, a caterer, from Bretton, Shona Campbell, 33, a cleaner from Standground, Lily Watson, a caterer from Peterborough and window fitter Patrick Wilsdon, 21, also from Peterborough.

Romanian national, Florian Lisman, 38, a machine operator living in Huntingdon, was additionally arrested.

In recent weeks, 18-year-old Bella Culley, from Billingham, County Durham, was arrested in Georgia after allegedly carrying 12kg of cannabis and 2kg of hashish into the ex-Soviet nation from Thailand, where she had been holidaying.

She claimed in court that she is pregnant and has confided in legal sources that she was in love with a mystery man who now forms a central part of the investigation.  

In a similar case, 21-year-old Charlotte Lee May, from Coulsdon, south London, has been locked up in a Sri Lankan prison after police discovered 46kg of ‘Kush’ – a synthetic strain of cannabis – in her suitcase when she arrived on a flight from Thailand.

The former cabin crew member for Tui was placed in handcuff after £1.15million worth of cannabis was allegedly found in her luggage last month.

She is being detained in a prison north of Colombo and could face up to 25 years in prison if found guilty. 

A flurry of cases have since followed including OnlyFans model Clara Wilson, 36, from Nottinghamshire, who allegedly tried to smuggle around £200,000 of Thai cannabis into Spain and 21-year-old Cameron Bradford, from Hertfordshire, who was arrested for allegedly smuggling cannabis into Germany.

Meanwhile, British beautician Kimberly Hall, 29, from Middlesbrough, was accused of attempting to smuggle $6.2m of cocaine from Chicago O’ Hare Airport to the UK, having come off a flight from Cancun, Mexico. 

Many of the alleged smugglers face decades in prison if convicted. 

Phineas Float, Jonathan Collyer and Lisa Stocker were formerly facing the death penalty over allegedly smuggling cocaine from the UK to Indonesia, but prosecutors last week said they would now be seeking a prison term instead.

And 79-year-old William ‘Billy Boy’ Eastment, a bowls-loving pensioner from Somerset, faces dying behind prison bars after he was intercepted at Santiago Airport with £200,000 worth of meth.