Lisa Marie Smith was just twenty when she was arrested at Bangkok Airport in 1996 for attempting to board a plane to Japan with a backpack filled with drugs – four kilograms of “opium resin” and 565 amphetamines.
She was sentenced to prison but escaped on bail and soon became Interpol’s most wanted woman.
Until now.
New photos have emerged of Lisa Marie Smith smiling and smoking outside a coffee shop.
The Sun claims the now 38-year-0ld woman is living in Dublin, running a cafe with her boyfriend. It appears she leads a rather normal life – arriving at the cafe most mornings and staying until late into the evening.
A source told the newspaper:
“It is extraordinary that she is living here and running a business. She has been here for 15 years and has always been a party girl. She obviously thinks Dublin is safe, she’s so comfortable she uses her real name, but it’s amazing she has gone undetected for so long. She has become a bit careless, talking about her past and appearing in pictures on the internet.”
Former Melbourne girl, Lisa Marie Smith is more famous for her escape than her conviction.
Her father, Terry White, was a hotshot businessman who made millions in the insurance sector after moving his family from Australia to London. But in the 90s he channelled all his efforts into freeing his rebellious daughter from Thailand’s notorious women’s prison after she’d served five months in jail.
At the time, it gave further proof to the sentiment that a person is above the law if they’re rich. After her father got involved, her charges were downgraded from possession of opium resin to hashish. This made it easier for her to be given bail. The pricetag? $74,000. Her father paid it immediately.
Within moments, Lisa Marie had left Thailand. How?
News Ltd’s, Andrew Rule writes:
“Lisa Marie apparently left Thailand on her Australian passport while Thai police were left holding her British one. Easy if you know how — or who.
By the time Thailand got around to alerting Interpol three months later, the bail jumper had been to Greece and taken the risk of picking up a new British passport at the embassy in Athens by filling in forms swearing the old one had been lost or stolen.
After a holiday on the Greek island of Santorini, reportedly to celebrate her 21st birthday, she disappeared.”
Her father, Terry, now aged 66, is listed as one of the Dublin cafe’s two directors.
The woman suspected as being Lisa Marie was approached by The Sun newspaper. According to them, she refused to talk to them, saying: “Give me your number and I will call you.”
She was then driven away by her partner.
Irish police have alerted Interpol.
Do you think she should be held accountable?
Top Comments
She needs to be held accountable ... but certainly not in Thailand or in any country where the death penalty can be applied.
And this is probably the reason we are amongst the world's top drug users. This is coming from a former party drug user too. There really is no deterrent to using in Australia. My only reason for stopping is I'm not fond of the come down and coke is way too expensive.
And it's people like her that probably resulted in harsher sentences for Westeners as she was never sentenced to death in the first place. Pretty sure any extradition will involve the death penalty being removed off the table even if it was there to begin with, which I doubt.
Lol.. "Do you think she should be held accountable?"
Umm.. hell yes?!