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22/08/2013
Peru Drug Suspects Refused Bail
Two women being held in Peru on charges of drug smuggling have been refused bail and remanded in custody to await trial.
Michaela McCollum, from Dungannon in County Tyrone and Melissa Reid, from near Glasgow, have been told they face a maximum sentence of 15 years if convicted.
The women have been accused of attempting to smuggle £1.5m worth of cocaine out of the country.
They were stopped at Jorge Chavez Airport in Lima two weeks ago while trying to board a plane to Spain. Subsequent searches by airport staff discovered 11kg of cocaine in their luggage.
Miss McCollum and Miss Reid have been held in prison since their arrest, and have been told they could face three years behind bars until the trial is heard.
The women have have denied accusations that they were acting as drug mules, and say they were forced to carry the baggage by a drug gang, who threatened to kill them if they did not agree.
They say they were forced into the operation in Ibiza, where they had been working over the summer.
When asked by a judge why they did not inform the authorities as to their plight, they replied that they were afraid they were being watched by members of the drug gang.
The women's lawyer, Peter Madden, said his clients intend to enter a 'not guilty' plea.
Mr Madden travelled to Lima on Monday. He denied his client's involvement in drug smuggling and refuted some claims made by newspapers that the accused had dealt in the drugs trade while working in Ibiza.
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."
If convicted, the pair face a maximum of fifteen years in jail. But if the court decides they were acting as members of an organised gang, they could face 20 - 25 years.
(IT/CD)
Michaela McCollum, from Dungannon in County Tyrone and Melissa Reid, from near Glasgow, have been told they face a maximum sentence of 15 years if convicted.
The women have been accused of attempting to smuggle £1.5m worth of cocaine out of the country.
They were stopped at Jorge Chavez Airport in Lima two weeks ago while trying to board a plane to Spain. Subsequent searches by airport staff discovered 11kg of cocaine in their luggage.
Miss McCollum and Miss Reid have been held in prison since their arrest, and have been told they could face three years behind bars until the trial is heard.
The women have have denied accusations that they were acting as drug mules, and say they were forced to carry the baggage by a drug gang, who threatened to kill them if they did not agree.
They say they were forced into the operation in Ibiza, where they had been working over the summer.
When asked by a judge why they did not inform the authorities as to their plight, they replied that they were afraid they were being watched by members of the drug gang.
The women's lawyer, Peter Madden, said his clients intend to enter a 'not guilty' plea.
Mr Madden travelled to Lima on Monday. He denied his client's involvement in drug smuggling and refuted some claims made by newspapers that the accused had dealt in the drugs trade while working in Ibiza.
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."
If convicted, the pair face a maximum of fifteen years in jail. But if the court decides they were acting as members of an organised gang, they could face 20 - 25 years.
(IT/CD)
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