From Smuggler to Caught: My Journey Helping Foreigners Escape Dubai and Why Lee Andrews Fell Short

CAPTURED by men with assault rifles, hooded, handcuffed and shackled, before being driven in the boot of a car to a “black site” facility for interrogation.

’ account for his two week absence reads like a scene from an – but now a former criminal has come forward with an alternative, shocking account of what he claims REALLY happened.

Lee Andrews has reunited with Katie Price since claiming he went through hell in a ‘black site’ Credit: Instagram The businessman has been unable to join his ‘wife’ in the UK due to being subject to a flight ban Credit: wesleeeandrews/Instagram

The retired people smuggler – who helped 60 people trapped in due to flight bans to escape – sensationally alleges ’s husband made his own sensational bid to escape the Emirate – but failed miserably.

Gulf border expert Tom, not his real name, claims Lee had actually crossed the Dubai-Oman border – only for it all to go wrong, and allegedly his wife played an unintentional part in his detection. Lee strongly denies the claims.

It’s “a huge business” for gangs, who Tom says charge up to £60,000 to smuggle people out of the with the help of corrupt officials and a passport office loophole.

Once at the border, they may take a tricky mountainous trek at midnight, which can last four-plus hours, or are driven over the border into using cunning deception tactics and more bribes.

Speaking on , Tom tells us: “The truth is nothing like his bulls***. He bolted to Oman after finding someone to take him over the border and he got caught.

“He was a stupid Brit, who got his arse tagged. I believe he took the mountain route. It’s normally a midnight rush to cross it and can take four hours.

“You are dropped off nearby – from there it’s quite steep, you climb up it, jump over a barrier and cross a road and you’re on the other side of the border.

“Emirati authorities are aware of this. They have all-terrain sensors in the mountains to detect anyone. If it’s triggered, you have a 10 or 15 minute head start on police, who are on dune buggies and hunting down any light source.

“Because Lee took the mountain route, he didn’t have an exit stamp for Dubai or an Oman entry stamp or visa, so he wouldn’t have been able to leave the country.

“It would have then been a case of using Oman contacts to facilitate his visa. That’s when I was contacted. I’m not in the game any more but was asked through someone else for help.

“He would have needed to lay low in a safe house and wait for Interpol notices to be withdrawn, then a team could process his visa and he could leave.

“But rather than keeping his head low and away from the cities, he was stupid and checked into a hotel.

“Wherever he was staying, he was using his credit card and passport. The hotel would have scanned his passport so knew he didn’t have a visa for Oman.

“In part, you can blame his new wife for a lot of his troubles too. saying she didn’t know where he was, meant Dubai police had to make a physical response.

“They would have put out alerts via the GCC – [Gulf Cooperation Council, which Oman is a part of] – to try to find him as a .

“Authorities would have kicked him out of Oman, where he would have been arrested at the border and held in a Dubai prison for the usual two to three weeks.”

, who has been accused of from vulnerable women, and dodgy business dealings, was released from Dubai’s Al Awir Central Prison last week.

His elaborate account was admitting to being on the Dubai/Oman border in the town of Hatta, but then claiming he was held by men with assault rifles, who interrogated him and charged him with espionage.

“They did slap me around a little bit, the little s**ts. I was hand-tied, shackled and also with a hood over my head,” Lee added.

“From there I was taken to a black site and I had no use of my phone. From what I know, it was an extended arm of the national guard, and that’s all I can reveal at the moment.”

Lee claimed to be in an Oman airport back in May – but it was almost certainly Dubai Terminal 2 Credit: wesleeeandrews/Instagram Lee claimed he was captured at gunpoint at the UAE border town of Hatta Credit: Getty – Contributor

Tom strongly refutes this account – and similarly believes him to be a ‘Walter Mitty’ type character, who spins lies left, right and centre.

He said: “It’s bulls***. If you’re taken to a black site, you never come back.

“I’ve also heard reports from people in Central prison saying he was full of s***. He wasn’t too popular.”

Lee, who calls the allegations “nonsense”, previously claimed to be in Muscat International Airport, in Oman, when he failed to fly home to join Katie on the sofa.

Eagle-eyed sleuths doubted his account, pointing out that the footage Lee shared from inside that airport was actually identical to Dubai’s Terminal 2.

The Sun has since learned that Lee has unpaid debts – owed to lawyers and a luxury car hire firm. He is also due to be summoned to court next month over a property dispute.

Tom claims he has helped up to 60 people escape from Dubai – the majority of them are subjected to flight bans due to owing money.

He explains that this type of restriction is normally enforced due to them losing a civil case against and thus owe compensation.

“The courts here are extremely corrupt and always on the side of Emiratis,” he adds. “Someone may not even know they have a civil case against them and so lose it by default.”

That was the case for Surrey-born Barney Lawrence-Jones , who claimed he was unaware of a civil case against him for a minor car accident while drink-driving, which he was jailed for in 2022.

The IT worker, 47, only became aware of his financial hell when a bank transaction declined – the balance was zero in the evening and the next morning he was £80,000 in debt.

He lost his job and struggled to find work due to the offence and was forced to rely on handouts from friends. Fearing his death, he was put in touch with people smugglers.

John Murphy says he is being ‘left to die in plain site’ in Dubai after being banned from leaving or working there Credit: Supplied Albert Douglas paid people smugglers to help him escape Dubai but he was caught Credit: Paul Tonge

Barney says he was driven over the border in the boot of the car “in the foetal position”. His trip was successful and he knew: “If they caught me I’d be dead.”

Similarly another Brit, , to cut through a border fence in Abu Dhabi in an a £2.5million fine and three year prison sentence, only for it to fail.

Insiders have previously claimed that Lee and botched bid for freedom when trying to explain his absence in May.

Tom says the legal system works against non-UAE citizens, adding: “If an Emirati says anything against you or you blink in the wrong way, you’re in trouble.”

He says some people who have debts from civil cases can work to pay off the money but sometimes “it’s too high to physically do it”.

“Others have additional restrictions, like having their Emirati ID removed, which prevents them from being able to work and leaves them in a hellish situation,” Tom adds.

“Those people have just a few options – committing further crimes to go back into prison, relying on friends and family for financial help or accepting they will die on the streets.”

Among those facing that bizarre and cruel order is Irish grandfather John Murphy, 59, of Limerick, who : “I’m staring death in the face.

“I sleep during the day on the metro when it’s really hot but I don’t see a way to survive this heat in summer. My family has given me all they can and there’s a horrid guilt from them.”

Homeless John, who relies on GoFundMe donations and support from friends, was sued for rent arrears by his landlord during a stint in prison and over time the debt rose to £92,000.

The grandad was jailed for six weeks for ‘sexual deviance’ in 2017 after unintentionally brushing the hip of a hotel security guard – the charge was eventually dropped.

Those in situations like John and Barney may turn to someone like Tom for help – as they claim the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office do not help them during their plights.

Explaining the operation, Tom says the first step is getting a new “clean passport” to rouse less suspicion when leaving Oman by pretending it has been lost or stolen.

This is also taken for individuals whose have been kept by authorities to prevent them from leaving – Tom claims this is a loophole that has always worked.

Tom claims the smuggling network was sent photos of cash to prove they could pay Credit: Supplied Passport and visa documents are also supplied by gangs Credit: Supplied

Next, Tom would message his smuggling network, who typically work in construction, telling them “the bird is ready to fly” and a date is arranged for a midnight transfer.

The individual is picked up late in the evening by a driver, who takes them the two to three hour journey to one of the border crossings.

It typically always happens around midnight and they have two options – being driven across into Oman or the mountain route.

The driver route can cost between £30,000 and £60,000, but Tom claims he only charged £7,000, which covered bribes and paying others in the plot. He says he only received money to cover his expenses.

The mountain route, which he suspects Lee took, costs around £6,000 – but is a trickier journey that risks being caught.

“You jump out from the car, which speeds off, and meet your scout,” Tom says. “Initially, it’s a 100-metre burst up the UAE side of the mountain, it’s quite steep.”

He claims they then lay low for up to three hours while police search the area before a “final push over the mountain into Oman”.

Scouts regularly change the “zigzag-filled routes” to avoid detection.

Lee became Katie’s fourth husband back in January Credit: Instagram/@wesleeeandrews Tom claims he has helped around 60 people escape from the UAE Credit: Getty

Once over, a minibus takes them to a safe house where they wait for the smugglers to get a UAE exit stamp and Oman entry stamp and visa on their visa. Then they have seven days to leave the country.

For the driven route, they wait a short distance away from the border for instructions from corrupt officials telling them they can cross.

He explains: “Once at the border, you’re lying down on the backseat, normally with a black blanket over you. The official, who is paid off, can see you but the cameras can’t, he turns a blind eye.

“The driver presents both his and your passport, which gets the UAE exit stamp. The car is checked but the official ignores the person in the back.

“Once that’s complete, the person has to transition to the front seat before hitting the Oman side of the border, which is around 500 metres away.

“This is why we travel at night too, so the cameras find it harder to spot someone. Once at the Oman border you walk in and get a seven-day visa and are driven to a hotel. They then have seven days to leave.”

Tom says smuggling is “a huge business” and that some have been conned, if they give the full cash upfront.

“Some dodgy drivers take the money and dump them in the middle of the bloody desert, it can be very tricky,” he adds.

“There’s a whole criminal network that runs these operations, primarily from the Pakistani community, they have done it for years.

“Many of the drivers work on construction sites and are in need of cash. The bribed officials are doing it to make a few extra quid on the side.”

Tom claims others are resorting to extreme measures to get them deported – including getting drunk in public and starting fights. But would have to serve a stint in prison.

While risky and illegal, being smuggled out of the country is an expensive route to freedom for those claiming to be wrongly trapped in the UAE.

But for many, feeling helpless to their situations, they will feel they have no other option than to take it.

The United Arab Emirates Media Office did not reply to The Sun’s request for comment.

Lee Andrews called the claims “nonsense” and told us: “I have been mentally disturbed by this… I was taken to a black site, I have the shakel (sic) marks to this day. I was missing for 10 whole days.

“I’m doing a full interview on this and live lie detector test (polygraph) to confirm my claims.”