Overview
- New reports on Monday describe William “Billy Boy” Eastment’s rapid decline in Santiago 1 Penitentiary after repeated bouts of pneumonia.
- He was arrested in May 2025 after Chilean officers said they found about £200,000 of methamphetamine hidden in his luggage following a flight from Mexico.
- His lawyers are pressing for a shortened process to avoid a full trial and for release under supervision within Chile, with one bid to ease his custody reportedly approved on October 17 and later overturned.
- Officials say extradition to the UK could take years and Chilean law does not allow expulsion in drug cases, narrowing options to a supervised arrangement inside the country.
- Any move out of prison requires a relative to guarantee his healthcare bills because he entered as a tourist, and sources say his UK state pension payments have stopped, leaving him without income.