UK Citizens Smuggling Drugs from Peru Sentenced

Suryatapa Mukherjee,

Correspondent (South America)

 

LIMA – Two UK citizens caught smuggling cocaine out of Peru in August have been sentenced today to six years and eight months each in prison.

Michaella McCollum, of Dungannon, County Tyrone, and Melissa Reid, of Lenzie, near Glasgow, admitted attempting to smuggle cocaine worth £1.5 million.

They faced a maximum sentence of 15 years but received the minimum for first-time drug traffickers which is eight years under Peruvian law. That was then reduced by one sixth, or 16 months, since they were cooperative. The four months the pair already spent in custody will count towards their sentence, and they should be free in 2020.

The women were caught on August 6 at Lima’s international airport with 11kg (24lb) of cocaine hidden inside packages of food in their luggage. Police said they had been due to fly to Madrid, then onto Majorca.

At first, they had claimed that they were coerced into smuggling drugs by armed criminals who kidnapped them in Ibiza, where they were working over the summer. This story was not believed by prosecutors leading to a prolonged trial.

They are expected to apply to serve some of their time in the UK once they have paid compensation to the Peruvian state.

According to the UN, Peru has overtaken Colombia as the world’s largest cultivator of coca, the raw material of cocaine.