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Video: Peru drugs arrest -Brit girls accused of smuggling cocaine face 25 years in jail


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[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp9WXjfwd1A]Peru Drugs Bust: Pair Appear In Police Video - YouTube[/ame]

 

Peru Drugs Bust: Pair Appear In Police Video

 

A Scottish teenager and a woman from Ireland deny knowing they were carrying £1.5m of cocaine in their luggage.

 

A video has emerged of a British and an Irish woman speaking to police shortly after they were arrested on suspicion of cocaine-smuggling in Peru. The footage shows the two women answering questions shortly after they were held at an airport near the capital, Lima.

 

Melissa Reid, 19, and Michaela McCollum, 20, protested their innocence after police found 11kg (24.2lbs) of cocaine worth £1.5 million pounds in their luggage.

 

The police footage also shows an officer examining a row of food bags, in which the drug was allegedly hidden. Police have accused the two of acting as "drug mules" to carry the contraband back to Europe.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-23678430

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Melissa Reid: Mother thought Peru drug arrest girl was in Ibiza

 

The mother of a Scottish teenager being held by police in Peru on suspicion of drug trafficking said she thought her daughter was in Ibiza.

 

Melissa Reid's mother Debra said she had no idea her daughter had travelled to the South American country. She said the Foreign Office had assured her Ms Reid was being well cared-for.

 

Ms Reid, 19, from Lenzie near Glasgow, was held with another young woman at Lima's airport after the discovery of cocaine said to be worth £1.5m. She is being held along with Michaella McCollum Connolly, 20, from Belfast.

 

Freelance journalist Dan Collyns, in Lima, told BBC Scotland he had seen a police video which showed the two young women looking "nervous and fatigued" being interviewed through a "rather ropey" translator, just moments after they had been arrested.

 

He said Ms Reid was asked if she knew what was being carried in the bags and she said she did not. Mr Collyns also said Ms Reid claimed she was forced to carry the bag which police claimed contained the drugs inside food containers, without knowing what was inside.

 

Ms Reid is a former pupil of Lenzie Academy who had been living in Ibiza since June. She had posted hundreds of photographs to her Facebook page over the summer, but it has not been updated since 21 July. A statement published on the National Police of Peru's website on Wednesday said the two women were alleged to have been acting as "drug mules".

 

They were detained by drug enforcement officials at Jorge Chavez International Airport after being detected by a sniffer dog. It was claimed they had just over 11.5kg of cocaine hidden in food products when they were arrested at the counter of Air Europa.

 

Officers said Ms Reid and Ms McCollum had been attempting to travel to Madrid, with a final destination of Palma in Majorca. Ms Reid was alleged to have 18 packets containing a total of 5.78kg of cocaine and Ms McCollum 16 envelopes containing 5.81kg of the drug.

 

Debra Reid said she had not had a chance to speak to her daughter. She said the family thought Melissa was in Ibiza having a good time with her friends and it came as a complete shock that she was in Peru.

 

The Foreign Office in London confirmed it was helping a British national. It is understood Ms Connolly is an Irish passport holder.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-23665801

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/at_76">@at_76</a> Hi! Yes, I mean, if you've been 'forced' to carry luggage through customs, chances are your aren't carrying cuddly toys...</p>— Alistair McDowall (@PoliticAli_UK) <a href="https://twitter.com/PoliticAli_UK/statuses/367182766540328960">August 13, 2013</a></blockquote>

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The pair are thought to have been recruited as drug mules by gangsters in Ibiza, where they had gone to work in bars and clubs, on the promise of an all-expenses-paid holiday to Peru plus £8,000 each in cash.

 

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/we-were-forced-to-carry-packages-say-british-women-held-with-drugs-in-peru-8758591.html

 

 

but I'm going for Matter-Eater Lad to swoop and rescue the two foolish girls.

 

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The pair are thought to have been recruited as drug mules by gangsters in Ibiza, where they had gone to work in bars and clubs, on the promise of an all-expenses-paid holiday to Peru plus £8,000 each in cash.

 

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/we-were-forced-to-carry-packages-say-british-women-held-with-drugs-in-peru-8758591.html

 

 

but I'm going for Matter-Eater Lad to swoop and rescue the two foolish girls.

 

And I had that 10,000 dollar reward without reading this.

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people dont like it when you speak the truth on here.

Ive seen it before...

The familes of these idoits will waste shed loads of money on legal fees trips in a desperate bid to get them off which will never happen and reduce their sentances. It will make no difference.

 

They knew what they was doing it does not take a sherlock to work that out. Have you seen their family home. ? it would be a pity for them to lose it for their daugthers and friend silliness,

 

They will also learn spanish.. when inside.

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people dont like it when you speak the truth on here.

Ive seen it before...

The familes of these idoits will waste shed loads of money on legal fees trips in a desperate bid to get them off which will never happen and reduce their sentances. It will make no difference.

 

They knew what they was doing it does not take a sherlock to work that out. Have you seen their family home. ? it would be a pity for them to lose it for their daugthers and friend silliness,

 

They will also learn spanish.. when inside.

 

That was not the thing I disagreed with.

 

It was your belief that it would do them good.

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Peru drug arrests: Spanish police 'doubt' over women's claims

 

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Peru drug arrests: Spanish police 'doubt' over women's claims

 

The head of Ibiza's police investigation into drug trafficking claims against two UK women has cast doubt on claims they were coerced into trying to smuggle drugs out of Peru.

 

Melissa Reid, from Lenzie near Glasgow, and Michaella McCollum, from Dungannon, both 20, are accused of trying to smuggle £1.5m worth of cocaine. The pair deny the claims, saying they were forced into it by a gang in Ibiza.

 

But police said they had several opportunities to alert the authorities.

 

First Sergeant Alberto Arean Varela, head of the anti-drug and organised crime police unit at the Guardia Civil in Ibiza, said the claims ran counter to his knowledge of trafficking cases.

 

"Sincerely, with my experience, I don't think these girls were forced to do this," he told the BBC. "Because, particularly when you go to South America, you need to pass several consuls so the first thing you [would] do is go to the passport consul and say 'Listen, this is what is happening to me', and the police will react - so I don't think they were forced."

 

Dr Jennifer Fleetwood, criminology lecturer at the University of Leicester, who has carried out research into the involvement of women in the international drugs trade, said their experience did not appear to be typical.

 

"We know that most drug mules are male - women represent about 20% but that does not mean that their story is not plausible... anyone who researches this [issue] finds people who have been coerced," she told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme.

 

The pair, who are expected to appear in court in Lima next week, could face lengthy prison sentences if found guilty of drug smuggling. Ms Reid and Ms McCollum had been working at bars in San Antonio, the main resort for thousands of young British tourists every summer, when they said they were befriended by a man from London.

 

They claimed they were then forced at gunpoint to make the journey to Peru, shadowed by gang members along the way. They were stopped on 6 August when they tried to board a flight from Lima airport to Madrid.

 

Police said they found more than 24lb (11kg) of cocaine in food packaging in the women's luggage.

 

The women have previously said they were unable to go to the authorities because the gang had threatened to kill their families if they did not co-operate. The National Police of Peru released a video of the women being questioned just after their arrest. In it, Ms Reid said: "I was forced to take these bags in my luggage".

 

Ms Reid's father, William, who has flown to the Peruvian capital to see his daughter, has said there was no way she would have been willingly involved. Ms McCollum's solicitor, Peter Madden, visited her on Friday. Speaking after the visit, he said she was "kidnapped, held at gunpoint and forced by threat to obtain and carry drugs back to Lima".

 

"She wasn't offered any money, she was threatened and held. She is now prepared and ready to give full details to the police who are in a questioning process," he said.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23737272

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Peru drugs: UK pair charged with drug offences

 

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Melissa Reid (left) and Michaella McCollum were taken to court in handcuffs

 

Peru drugs: UK pair charged with drug offences

 

Two women from the UK arrested in Peru on suspicion of drug smuggling have been charged and face a maximum sentence of 15 years if convicted.

 

Michaella McCollum, of Dungannon in Northern Ireland, and Melissa Reid, of Lenzie near Glasgow, are accused of trying to smuggle cocaine with a street value of £1.5m out of the country. Ms McCollum's lawyer Peter Madden said both women would plead not guilty. It is likely the pair will be transferred to prison to await trial.

 

The women, both 20, have spent the last two weeks in custody over the drug trafficking allegations. They were taken from their holding cells on Tuesday and transferred by police escort to the neighbouring province of Callao, which has jurisdiction over their case. The women were given a brief medical examination before being taken to the public prosecutor's office where they gave full statements.

 

They spent the night in cells at the courthouse awaiting a judge's decision. The BBC's Will Grant, in Peru, said this came several hours later than expected. "The charges came at the end of a difficult day for the two, who had spent two weeks inside a police cell in Lima without charge," he said. "When the women were eventually moved to the courthouse in Callao, it was under the full glare of the local and international media. Neither of the women speak any Spanish and the convoluted legal system in Peru is often complex for those well versed in the law," our correspondent said.

 

"However, at least in the short term, it is a situation they are going to have to adapt to as the Peruvian authorities are likely to take several months before the trial reaches court," he said.

 

Meanwhile, Mr Madden criticised the conditions the women were being kept in, saying they had not been fed all day on Tuesday. He said Ms McCollum's brother Sean had not been allowed to see her, although the lawyer and an accompanying priest had.

 

Mr Madden said: "The conditions inside the holding cells are pretty grim. They are expected to lie on the floor, there's a sort of a sponge-type bed which is just not acceptable. There are no blankets - it's not clean. And the most important thing is they haven't actually been offered any food today and it doesn't look as though they are going to be."

 

Ms McCollum and Ms Reid are accused of trying to smuggle 11kg (24lb) of cocaine out of Peru in food packages in their luggage. The pair were stopped while trying to board a flight to Madrid two weeks ago. Both women say they were forcibly recruited as drug mules by an armed gang while working in bars on the Spanish island of Ibiza, and travelled to Peru under duress.

 

Drug trafficking in Peru carries an average sentence of eight to nine years in prison, but there are harsher sentences for being part of a criminal organisation.

 

The women could face up to three years in jail before trial if they are refused bail.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23776210

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No, and I dont know why you have such concern for my well being. We talking about two mules whom have and going to waste their life... trying the easy way out.

 

Dont they see the warnings not to smuggle drugs... !

 

At least they will learn Spanish ... at least they will learn how bad drugs are and the risks people take and people lifes lost for those lines they had in their time..

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