Tamara Martins, a 31-year-old British mother from Croydon, is facing up to 20 years in a Cambodian prison after being caught allegedly trying to smuggle 34kg of cannabis. She insists she was 'set up' after a man approached her at a bar and asked her to transport a suitcase of electronics to the UK for a fee. She claims she only discovered the case contained 71 cannabis parcels when she was stopped at Techo Airport.
Family speaks out from 6,000 miles away
Ms Martins' younger brother, Trey, 29, who is caring for his sister's young daughter, said he did not even know she was in the southeast Asian nation until she called him. Speaking to the Daily Mail, Trey described her as 'extremely erratic' during that first call.
He said: "I didn't even know she was in Cambodia until she called me. 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."
Rise in Brits detained abroad
Ms Martins is one of more than 200 Brits currently detained in Southeast Asian nations over alleged cannabis smuggling after being lured by criminal gangs. In September, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) warned that consular cases involving Brit nationals arrested abroad for the offences more than quadrupled between 2023 and 2025.
Cases rose from just over 80 in 2023 to more than 340 in 2025, with more than 160 cases reported so far in 2026. The FCDO said the increase was driven by cannabis-related arrests across several nations, namely Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and Laos.
Conditions in CC2 prison
Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty warned that unsuspecting Brits are made to bear the consequences of criminals' actions after being hoodwinked into transporting an illegal payload. Trey said his sister is among them, telling the Mail: "She's never been arrested for anything to do with drugs and she's never been involved in that sort of stuff."
The siblings were initially able to stay in contact while Ms Martins was held at a tourist detention centre, but she has since been moved to the notorious CC2 women's prison. The overcrowded facility has made headlines for years over its alleged severe human rights abuses, with inmates reportedly being coerced, abused and subject to slave labour practices.
Since being transferred to the facility, Ms Martins said in a letter she hasn't "been able to sleep, eat or anything", and, penniless, has been unable to get any proper food, sanitary products, or even underwear. An FCDO spokesperson said: "We are supporting a British National detained in Cambodia and are in contact with the local authorities."
