Brit 'drug mule' arrested at Turkey airport makes desperate defence plea as he faces minimum 10 years in prison
A British man arrested in Turkey and found to have a suitcase full of drugs has said he was threatened into transporting the luggage.
British couple Taylor Johnson and Holly Cooper, both 21, were returning to the UK from Thailand on 26 April when they were ordered off their connecting flight at Istanbul airport.
Footage from Turkish customs officials showed the couple being led to the luggage carousel and asked to retrieve their bags, which were then searched and over 19kg of cannabis packed inside black bags was found inside Johnson's suitcase.
No drugs were found in Cooper's luggage.
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Both arrested on suspicion of drug smuggling, Cooper has since returned to the UK after a judge in Turkey believed her plea that she had no knowledge of the drugs, but Johnson remains in custody and faces at least 10 years in prison if found guilty.
The Sun reports that the couple's legal representative Bilgehan Berk has said a judge was told that Johnson agreed to transport the suitcase after being threatened by a man he was involved in a car crash with.
"The person involved in the accident had obtained my details," Johnson told the court via an interpreter.
“About a week later, he began threatening both me and my family. He demanded £3,000 from me. I told him I did not have the money. He then instructed me to travel to Thailand and bring back an item located there to the United Kingdom.
“He told me it was a specially designed suitcase, so I did not know it contained drugs. I then called my girlfriend and told her I was going to Thailand on holiday, asking whether she wanted to come with me. She agreed. Everyone paid for their own ticket."
Johnson maintained that he did not know what was inside the suitcase, and that his girlfriend had no knowledge of the true reason for their trip to Thailand.
He said that while in Thailand he was called by the person he claims was threatening him, and was told to collect a suitcase at his hotel reception desk.
Johnson said the suitcase was locked, and that he only found out what was inside when he got to Turkey.
"I apologise. Had I known that the suitcase contained drugs, I would never have done such a thing," he told the court.
When Cooper was asked why she didn't find it odd that her boyfriend was travelling back with a new suitcase he hadn't had while flying out to Thailand, she told the judge his old suitcase had been damaged on their previous holiday so she assumed he'd bought a new one while out there.
Johnson is currently being held in custody in Maltepe Prison in a dormitory for foreign inmates and his solicitor says he hasn't been the victim of violence.
His sentencing is next month, and his legal representatives are set to apply for any prison time served to be done in a UK jail.
A large number of Brits have been detained on suspicion of being 'drug mules' in recent years, including:
Charlotte May Lee
Former flight attendant Lee, 21, from Coulsdon, south London, was arrested at Bandaranaike International Airport in Sri Lanka in May 2025, accused of having two suitcases containing 46kg of synthetic drug 'kush'.
She was travelling from Bangkok, Thailand and claims the drugs were placed in her luggage without her knowledge. She faces up to 25 years in prison.
Cameron Bradford
Bradford, 24, from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, was arrested in Munich after smuggling 20kg of marijuana from Thailand
She says she was threatened by a man who employed her as an escort and forced to take the suitcase.
Ultimately, she was handed a two-year suspended sentence.
Jonathan Collyer, Lisa Stocker and Phineas Float
Collyer, 38, and Stocker, 39, from Hastings, were detained in Indonesia after police found 993 grams of cocaine hidden in a powdered dessert mix.
Float, 31, was detained as an accomplice two days later.
The trio had been facing the death penalty under Indonesia's strict drug laws, but were instead jailed for a year.
Why are Brits being targeted by drug smuggling gangs?
Speaking to the Daily Mail, an expert explained British nationals were being approached by drug smuggling gangs due to the strength of their passports, but this could end up meaning Brits are treated with more suspicion by airport authorities.
"That's why they are being picked up more, because they are being picked on more. If it's a run on Brits, this could sustain for years," they said.
Gary Carroll of the Claymore Advisory Group added that young women in particular were being targeted due to their interest in global travel.
"Smuggling drugs or packages where they're not entirely sure of the contents in exchange for free holidays and cash seems quite a lucrative offer," he said, explaining that free flights and accommodation were being used to lure travellers.
Joe Harker