‘It was the most terrifying experience of my life’
Love Island star Kaz Crossley has spoken out about her “terrifying experience” in a Dubai jail after a video of her snorting a white substance led to her being arrested at Abu Dhabi airport.
Crossley, who has since been released, has said she was locked up with 3o other women and described it as “the most terrifying experience of my life.”
The 28-year-old was stopped at the airport on Monday, on her way to Thailand, after The Sun revealed a video of her snorting a substance at a party in Dubai two years ago.
Love Island star Kaz Crossley filmed snorting suspicious white substance in super-strict Dubaipic.twitter.com/6SslTswP6M
— Need To Know (@NeedToKnow__NTK) December 6, 2021
Kaz, according to a report in The Sun on Saturday, was freed without charge after being quizzed over the video and being locked up in 30C heat — and left for days, confused and scared.
The publication said the reality TV star was on Friday night set to fly out of the United Arab Emirates as her prison nightmare finally ended.
Because UAE authorities didn’t have a translator, Kaz was reportedly left clueless about why she was being held, The Sun reported, and was only allowed to send out one monitored email to a friend to tell loved ones she had been detained.
Kaz told a friend: “They didn’t get me a lawyer or a proper translator. I couldn’t even have a shower.
“I was locked up with 30 other women, and had no idea why I was there for days – nobody would help me. It was the most terrifying experience of my life.”
The friend added to The Sun: “She’s very shaken up, the very worst thoughts were going through her mind.
“You see stories of Brits being banged up for years and years in these countries over drugs issues.
“She didn’t have drugs, but she had been associated with someone else police are looking into from a previous trip, and that’s why they arrested her.”
The friend said Kaz was “incredibly relieved” to have been let go, and couldn’t wait to leave the country: “It’s an experience it will live with her forever.”
Dubai police confirmed to The Sun that Kaz was arrested for an alleged drugs offence.
If charged and found guilty Kaz could have faced at least three months in jail and a £5,000 fine.
After being arrested at the airport, Kaz was taken to Dubai police HQ’s Criminal Investigation Department, then transferred to the Deportation of Violators Section at Dubai International Airport at 4pm on Thursday, where she was held in another cell before being released.
Kaz was reportedly returned to Abu Dhabi police station on Friday to complete paperwork and face final questions and was released without charge.
Kaz came third on ITV2’s Love Island in 2018 and is set to feature on Channel 5’s The Challenge.
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