Two British women have been sentenced to six years and eight months in prison in Peru after admitting to smuggling cocaine valued at an estimated £1.5 million. Michaela McCollum, 20, from Northern Ireland, and Melissa Reid, 20, from Scotland, were arrested at Lima airport with 11kg of cocaine hidden in their luggage.
The pair initially claimed they were forced by an armed gang in Spain to transport the drugs. However, they later pleaded guilty in the hope of receiving a lighter sentence. They have already spent four months in custody and originally faced up to 15 years if convicted.
Reid has passed her prison diary to the Mail on Sunday, describing harsh conditions. She wrote that she and McCollum were kept in a prison van for a day in intolerable heat without food, water, or toilet access. She expressed anxiety over the uncertainty, stating, 'I have prepared myself for the worst … I think of how I will be in 15 years.'
Reid had hoped to serve only a third of the sentence through work or study, but now expects to serve the full term. The diary also revealed her fear of being separated from McCollum during their incarceration.
