1,000 Britons held in jails overseas on drug charges

HUNDREDS of travelling Britons are being caught out by strict foreign laws against drug trafficking.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has revealed more than 1,000 British nationals are currently imprisoned overseas on drugs charges.

The majority are held in Spain (207), followed by the United States (141), Thailand and France (both 79).

Minister Chris Bryant said yesterday that travellers should be "extremely wary" of getting sucked into drugs because they face long jail terms in harsh conditions.

He said: "The message is clear – we can't get people out of jail in other countries, so if you don't want to waste your life away in a tough foreign jail, be sensible and keep clean."

His comments came after a British drugs smuggler was executed in China last December despite widespread criticism of his treatment.

Mentally ill Akmal Shaikh, 53, a father-of-three from London, was killed by lethal injection after being caught carrying 8.8lb of heroin into the country in 2007.