Agencies/Lima
Two young women from Britain and Ireland appeared in a Peruvian court and were indicted on charges of trying to smuggle cocaine out of the country, prosecutors said.
If convicted they face between 15 and 18 years in jail for their alleged attempt to sneak a total of 11kg of the drug out of Peru on a flight to Spain, said a statement from prosecutors.
Their case has triggered sensational headlines in their homelands, as they had initially been reported missing in Spain in July.
Two weeks ago, 20-year-old Michaella McCollum Connolly and 19-year-old Melissa Reid were arrested at Lima airport as they tried to board a flight to Spain carrying what Peruvian police said was 11kg of cocaine.
Connolly had previously been reported missing from her job on the Spanish holiday island of Ibiza in the Mediterranean, and well-wishers had launched a large-scale Internet campaign to find her.
After their arrest, the women told reporters that they had been kidnapped by a drugs cartel, taken to Peru and forced to transport drugs.
But the claim was met with widespread skepticism and Peruvian authorities did not buy the story.
The pair was led into court in handcuffs, as photographers and Reid’s parents, who flew out in recent days to support her, looked on.
There was no word on a trial date. Both women looked scared as they walked into court.
They wore jeans and T-shirts, and had undergone a medical examination prior to their court appearance.
Police sources quoted by the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio said the women may have been recruited by a local drug trafficking ring.
Reid’s father, William, and McCollum’s brother, Keith, were both prevented from entering the court building, according to Peter Madden, the prominent Northern Ireland lawyer hired by McCollum’s family.
Reid and McCollum were “confused and frightened” and being held in “very poor and dirty conditions”, Madden said. “The holding cells had thin mattresses on the floor and were full of flies,” he said, adding that the women had not been offered any food by the authorities during the entire day.
Madden said he feared the authorities wanted to “break their spirits so they would plead guilty”.
Madden denied media reports that had emerged about his client alleging involvement with drugs.
“Michaella McCollum did not owe any money to any drugs dealer, she was not and is not involved in the drugs trade, she has no criminal record, she has never been in trouble with the police in her life,” he said.
“She was not seen on video carrying drugs, as was alleged in one newspaper, she was carrying a handbag, it was her handbag, it was pretty obvious it wasn’t drugs, but that was the report. “She was not out shopping in Lima and spending a lot of money, that didn’t happen.”