A BRIT caught in Turkey with £280,000 of cannabis in his suitcase is facing a minimum sentence of ten years, a court has heard.
Taylor Johnson, 21, was stopped at Istanbul airport from a holiday in Thailand with girlfriend Holly Cooper.
Holly and Taylor remove their bags from the luggage carousel Credit: CCTV
Taylor Johnson and Holly Cooper, both 21 and from Dudley, Birmingham, were arrested at Istanbul Airport on the night of April 26 Credit: Facebook
Investigators discovered 19.2kg of the drug in 17 black, vacuum-packed bags after a drug dog checked his luggage.
Both he and Cooper, 21, were arrested even though nothing was found in her bag.
The couple appeared in court last week when the prosecutor asked the judge to convict them of “manufacturing and trafficking narcotic or psychotropic substances”.
The judge believed Cooper’s version of events that she had no knowledge of the and released her.
She has now flown back to the UK and her lawyer Bilgehan Berk is confident that the case against her will be dropped.
But Johnson was remanded in custody and faces at least ten years behind bars even though he claims he was forced to bring the suitcase back and had no idea it was packed with drugs.
Mr Berk, whose firm also represents Johnson, told The Sun: “Her luggage was empty, there was nothing criminal in there.
“The judge believed her story and released her and said he does not need to see her back in .
Holly Cooper has now flown back to the UK Credit: Facebook
CCTV of the moment the pair were stopped by customs cops Credit: Turkish National Police
“Taylor gave a very good statement saying that someone pushed him to go there.
“On the last night a Chinese man came to their hotel and gave him the suitcase.
“I believe he is innocent but they caught him with the drugs, so that means he will get sentenced.”
The couple were detained by customs officers at Istanbul airport on April 26 after boarding their connecting flight to London on the way home from holiday.
Shortly before it was due to take off they were ordered off the jet and told to collect their luggage.
showed the investigators check the bags and find the drugs in Johnson’s case.
Cooper, of Coseley, and Johnson, of Wednesbury, both West Midlands, were separated and taken to different prisons.
They appeared in the Gaziosmanpaşa criminal court in Istanbul last week when a judge was told that unemployed Johnson had agreed to bring back the case for a man who had threatened him after they were involved in a car crash.
Taylor Johnson, 21, is facing a minimum sentence of ten years in prison Credit: GoFundMe
CCTV of the moment the pair were stopped by customs cops Credit: Turkish National Police
Speaking through an interpreter, Johnson said: “The person involved in the accident had obtained my details.
“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 . He then instructed me to travel to Thailand and bring back an item located there to the .
“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.
“Holly had absolutely no knowledge of what was happening. When we arrived in Thailand, the person who had sent me there called me one night from the UK. Holly was asleep at the time.
“He told me that the suitcase was ready at the reception desk and that I needed to collect it. I picked up the suitcase. It was locked.
“I then travelled to Turkey on my way back to the UK with that suitcase. I only learned what was inside the suitcase when I arrived in Turkey.”
He added in a final statement to the court: “I apologise. Had I known that the suitcase contained drugs, I would never have done such a thing.”
CCTV of the moment they were caught by customs cops Credit: Turkish National Police
The couple were stopped in Istanbul Credit: Facebook
Cooper told the court she earns £3,500 a month working in the care industry and had no reason to try and smuggle drugs.
She said: “He told me he was going to Thailand for a holiday and asked whether I would like to join him.
“I agreed and purchased my own ticket. We travelled to Thailand, went , and spent time sightseeing. Taylor never told me that anyone had forced him to go to Thailand.
“I genuinely believed we were there on holiday. We were only transiting through Turkey on our way back from Thailand. I had no knowledge of what was inside the suitcase.”
The judge asked why she had not quizzed Johnson about why he was travelling home with a different suitcase to the one he took.
She replied: “During our previous holiday, his suitcase had been damaged. Because of that, I assumed he had purchased a new suitcase while we were there, so I did not ask about it.”
The prosecutor requested that both defendants, neither of whom have any criminal convictions, be convicted of “manufacturing and trafficking narcotic or psychotropic substances” which carries a minimum term of ten years.
Mr Berk told the court no illegal items were found in his client’s luggage and added: “The fact that she travelled with Taylor alone does not demonstrate that she was aware of the illegal substances found in his suitcase.
“My client is very young and lacks both the experience and capacity to commit a of this nature.”
The court ruled that Cooper be released and allowed to return to the UK while Johnson was remanded in custody.
He is in Maltepe with around 15 other Brits in a dormitory for 40 foreign inmates.
Previous reports said he had been beaten up inside prison but Mr Berk said: “No, he has not suffered any violence.
“He is okay because he’s not alone. He is with other UK prisoners.”
Johnson is due to be sentenced in July and his lawyer will then apply for him to serve the term in a UK jail.
The couple’s families back home in the UK were “in bits” at the Midnight Express-style in which their children found themselves.
The 1978 hit movie featured a student who was thrown in a Turkish hell-hole prison after trying to smuggle drugs out of the country.
A family friend said when they were arrested that they were “good kids” who had been groomed by a trafficking gang to bring back the drugs.
The friend added: “They are really not bad kids. I have seen Taylor grow up. He’s a good, happy kid.
“Everyone makes mistakes.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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