Love Island finalist Kaz Crossley has been arrested in the United Arab Emirates and is being held in custody in Dubai on suspicion of drug offenses. Crossley, who took part in the ITV2 competition in 2018, was arrested at the Abu Dhabi airport in transit for a flight to Thailand. She is likely to spend at least three months in prison, it emerged on Thursday.
Crossley claimed that she was going to Thailand to do some voluntary work when she was detained and thrown behind the bars in a Dubai prison. According to reports, she was arrested on Monday but the news emerged only on Thursday.
Finally Arrested
According to reports, Crossley's arrest is said to have been rooted in a video that was apparently taken in November 2020 at a party in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where she was seen allegedly snorting a white substance.
It is believed that Crossley's name was flagged to the United Arab Emirates police, who are said to still be investigating the viral video. The video of Kaz was taken during a lockdown when the former Love Island contestant took off for the desert to avoid being subjected to UK regulations.
In 2020, several influencers went to Dubai to escape Covid-19 restrictions in the UK, claiming they were there for work. Crossley was one among them.
She was arrested on Monday, and a source claimed that when her passport was examined in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, "her name certainly raised a red flag." She was later sent to a prison in Dubai, where she reportedly was not allowed to call her family but was allowed to send one email.
"She messaged one particular friend whose email she could remember and asked her to inform her family that she was OK but had been arrested for drug offenses. The arrest wasn't because of anything she had on her. As far as we know it is all down to that video," the source added.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We are in contact with the local authorities following the arrest of a British national in the United Arab Emirates."
Dubai lately has relaxed its drug regulations, and first-time offenders now face a minimum sentence of three months in jail and fines ranging from $5,500 to $27,000.
Earlier the UAE had a "zero tolerance" for drug-related offenses and any drug usage would attract a minimum of four years in prison. Suspects are then deported from the UAE and sent back to their home country, in Crossley's case the UK.
In a Soup Now
Crossley's incident serves as a grave caution for expats. She was one of many influencers who traveled to Dubai for "business purposes" during the height of the lockdown when travel was prohibited for UK citizens.
Only a few days before the video of her snorting white powder went viral, Crossley uploaded photos from her new Manchester home and said she had just bought a second property.
An army of British influencers and reality TV stars have been recruited to entice more Brits to vacation in the UAE where the 30% alcohol tax was abolished on New Year's Eve.
Crossley starred on Love Island five years ago, joining the show as a new contestant when Casa Amor was introduced. Josh Denzel, who had previously been dating Georgia Steel, saw her right away.
This led to a dramatic recoupling ceremony when Crossley and Denzel returned to the main villa together.
The couple eventually made it to the competition's final, where they came in third behind Laura Anderson and Paul Knops and the eventual winners Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham.
Crossley and Denzel's breakup was first revealed in January 2019. She later started dating fellow Love Island contestant Theo Campbell, but their relationship ended six months later.
