British woman held in Cambodia over 34kg of cannabis says she was set up

Tamara Martins, a 31-year-old from Croydon, is detained in Cambodia after being stopped at Techo Airport with cannabis in her luggage. 1 2 The Daily Mail puts the amount at 34.5kg in 71 packages; the Mirror says 34kg. 1 2 Martins says a man in a bar asked her to take a suitcase of electronics to the UK for a fee, and that she only learned of the drugs at the airport. 1 2

The Mail says she faces up to 20 years in prison; the Mirror says decades. Both describe Cambodia's drug laws as zero-tolerance. 1 2 Her brother Trey, 29, who is looking after her ten-year-old daughter, says she has never been involved in drugs and that she called him in tears after her arrest. 1 2 After a few days at a tourist detention centre she was moved to CC2 women's prison, where, in a letter, she says she cannot sleep or eat. Trey says she lacks food, clothes and sanitary products without money. 1 2

The Mail adds that she is reportedly in a cell with over 66 people and, according to a British Embassy consular visit report it saw, fears sharing accommodation with inmates who have HIV and other illnesses. Trey has set up a GoFundMe for legal fees. 1 An FCDO spokesperson said the UK is supporting a British national detained in Cambodia and is in contact with local authorities. 1 2 Both outlets place the case within a rise in Britons arrested in Southeast Asia on drug charges, though their figures differ. The Mail cites 355 Britons detained; the Mirror cites more than 200 currently detained and a FCDO-reported rise in consular cases from just over 80 in 2023 to more than 340 in 2025. 1 2