PSA: Solo travelers, be extra careful when looking for travel buddies! I have had a scare of my life.

I am 18F from Denmark and recently started my solo backpacking trip in Australia.

I was planning my first trip from Sydney to Brisbane, and was looking for travel buddies. On one very popular solo travel Facebook group, an Aussie guy has contacted me. He had a group wanting to go as a convoy and invited me to join as a passenger. I was invited into their private group and we decided to meet up. The first meet up was fine, and the vibe was really great. But the next day we decided to go to a few bars and nightclubs and I ended up in his car, so he was driving me around.

The Police stopped him and wanted to do a quick drug test. It was positive. They searched a car and found coke (not the drink). We both were then arrested. What I think happened was that initially he said that I was somehow involved with the drugs. But I have never seen or taken anything in my life.

They took me to a police station, where I had to take all my clothes off, the whole body was checked and all my belongings were searched and tested and I was told there were traces of drugs on my clothing. Did interviews where I explained my situation but felt like they didn't initially believe anything and kept nitpicking on my story and tried to make me confess. They created a file on me with fingerprinting, photos, all the details. I was told that I will be detained initially for 6 hours and to get a lawyer, I was very scared that I might end up in prison. Some hours later they told me that the guy confessed to them that the drugs were his and I had nothing to do with it, and that there were no more charges on me, so I was released.

I do understand that I probably was too new/naive and should have been more cautious. I also don't think he had any bad intentions towards me, but these kinds of things may happen if you connect with people that you don't know.