Overview
- Documentary maker Andrew Drury says messages from Begum’s associate Hoda Muthana asked for money using codes such as “gummies” for dollars and “mints” for pounds to pay traffickers.
- The texts outline leaving al-Roj, crossing into Turkey, then presenting at embassies in the belief deportation would compel UK acceptance.
- Drury says he was offered interview exclusivity for £35,000 to finance the plan, later floated at £15,000 via an outside handler, and he refused.
- He says he alerted his MP and UK intelligence with little response, and he reports sending no funds, as the Foreign Office reiterates national security is the priority.
- Begum’s British citizenship was revoked in 2019 and upheld by UK courts, with the European Court of Human Rights now examining trafficking and human-rights questions.