Peru Two's Michaella McCullum soaks in the Benidorm sun after telling of prison ‘horrors' awaiting Brit ‘smugglers'
PERU Two's Michaella McCollum has been spotted soaking up the sun in Benidorm — just days after warning that Brit 'smugglers' Bella Culley and Charlotte Lee could face 'prison horrors' she wouldn't survive.
The 31-year-old convicted drug mule was seen in a pink Louis Vuitton bikini enjoying the beach in Spain.
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Peru Two's Michaella McCollum cools off in the sea in Benidorm
Credit: Splash
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The convicted drug mule shows off her curves after recent a boob job
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Michaella plays with a beach ball while soaking up the Spanish sunshine
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McCollum served three years in a hellish jail after smuggling £1.5million of cocaine into Peru in 2013
Credit: Splash
The mum-of-two, who had a boob job at the end of last year, was pictured cooling off in the sea and playing with a ball on the sand.
McCollum served three years in a hellish jail near Lima after she and pal Melissa Reid were busted smuggling £1.5million of cocaine into
Now, after carving out a new life as a public speaker and influencer, she has opened up about her time behind bars — and
'I could not do 20 years in a prison like that. I just couldn't. And that's what those girls are facing,' she said.
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Culley was caught earlier this month with a 31lb stash of cannabis and hashish at Tbilisi airport in Georgia — and told a court she's pregnant.
She's being held in a Soviet-style clink ringed by watchtowers.
Lee, from south London, is locked up in Sri Lanka after two suitcases packed with 46kg of super-strength kush were allegedly found in her hotel room.
The potent synthetic drug is 25 times stronger than fentanyl.
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Friends say she's been denied medicine and is forced to 'have a glass of water poured over her head' to clean herself.
Brit 'drug mule' Charlotte May Lee, 21, tears up as cops wheel £1.2m kush haul into court she 'didn't know was in case'
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Michaella McCollum (L) entering the Sarita Colonia jail with a police escort in October, 2013
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View of the containment areas of the Ancon 2 prison, where McCollum served her sentence
Credit: AFP
McCollum compared their ordeals to her own — and said she 'couldn't imagine' how pregnancy would complicate Culley's ordeal.
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'As a mum, I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to give birth in that sort of place, and to potentially have the child taken from you and put into care,' she said.
'That adds a whole new, terrifying, dimension. It's just incredibly sad.'
Reflecting on her arrest at 19, McCollum said: 'The situation was almost exactly the same.
'Her mum had reported her missing, then it emerged that she'd been arrested.
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'There were such parallels with my case – except it was just in a different country.'
She added: 'They are 19 and 21. Whatever they have done, it's so young to be caught up in something like this, and I know what they are going to go through.
'And their families. It's the worst thing anybody can have to face.'
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Bella May Culley was arrested on drug offences in Georgia
Credit: Facebook
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Bella pictured in court in Tbilisi after she was detained at the city's airport
Credit: East2West
Lee claimed she was duped by a mysterious Brit called 'Dan' who bought her a flight to Sri Lanka from Thailand — and then vanished.
McCollum said she was also coerced — offered £5,000 to carry the drugs and manipulated by older men.
'At the time I was so high (on cocaine) that I could barely walk. Yet the men around me were all sober,' she said.
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'I thought they were my friends, but actually they didn't give a s**t about me.'
She added: 'It's easy to look at girls like this and think 'how could you be so stupid?' but I look back at myself and think exactly that.
'The vast majority were the victims of some sort of coercion, usually by men.
'Prisons all over the world are full of women who have been caught up in something like this.'
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The once notorious mule has now written a book, starred in a Netflix doc, and works with police to warn teens off drugs.
With an estimated net worth close to £1million, she says: 'Even £50,000 isn't enough. No amount of money is worth your freedom.'
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Part-time beautician Charlotte was arrested on May 12 after stepping off a flight to Sri Lanka from Thailand
Credit: Sri Lanka Police
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Charlotte formerly worked as an air stewardess
Credit: Tim Stewart
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The Irish Sun
5 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
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'I didn't know where I was going, and I was terrified I was going to be raped or something. 'After a while, they pulled up to this police station with a prison attached. 'Once there I was strapped to a chair in the clothes I had planned to travel home in - winter items. 'They left me there for days, nowhere to go to the loo, wash, or not even allowed to take off a layer. It was humiliating. "I had to wipe myself with my hand when I went to the loo where I was sat. 'When the guard came to unchain me, he retched at the smell of me. Brits accused of trying to smuggle drugs into the UK from abroad are being locked away for a long time 'Just two weeks before I had been partying with NBA stars.' She had been taken under the wing of the woman - who claimed to work for a famous US music star in Toronto. 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But the majority had been caught with drugs and arrested to show officials were taking an active stance in the war on drugs. 'Prison in Panama is nothing like prison in the US, Canada or the UK,' she says. 'As I was being taken in, the guard said to me, 'There are laws in this country, but as soon as you cross these bars, the laws don't apply'. 17 Alana uses her experience to provide incarcerated women with basic hygiene packages Credit: Supplied 'I had nothing given to me, just the clothes I was wearing. I had to shower with laundry detergent for the first two weeks. 'I wasn't given any underwear, no toilet paper or sanitary products. When I got my period I had to free bleed, with blood soaking my clothes as I went about my day. 'Guards and other inmates would tell me I smelt like blood, but there was nothing I could do. No woman should ever be put in that position.' Thankfully Alana's parents were allowed to visit and could bring supplies and money for her to buy things she needed - but she says that didn't always make things better. 'Depending on who was guarding when we were sent outside for work, sometimes we wouldn't be allowed back in to use the bathroom," she recalls. 'And when I was on my period, that would mean I used to have to just bleed through whatever sanitary product I was wearing. It was vile.' Horrifying searches Alana claims it was common for prison guards to randomly search cells in the middle of the night or early hours of the morning to try to seize phones or drugs that had been brought into the prison. Often these raids came with humiliating strip searches for the women. 'One morning, 80 balaclava-wearing officers burst in and sprayed us with pepper spray,' she recalls. 'I was in my underwear. They took people out to be strip searched." I'd find notes in my stuff from the male guards telling me I was pretty or that they wanted me to be their girlfriend. Alana Moor Alana claims she was made to bend over and officers pointed to her tampon string, demanding she remove it. 'I tried to refuse, but they didn't care," she says. "I was then made to sit in the corner of the cell while they searched it for 45 minutes holding this bloody tampon in my hand while bleeding everywhere. 'Six male officers watched me as I left the room and then sat where I was told. It was horrendous and inhumane.' Indecent propositions 17 Alana claims officers would target her because she was a foreigner Credit: Getty 17 Male officers also brazenly attempted to woo girls they were supposed to be guarding, Alana claims. 'Often after raids I'd find notes in my stuff from the male guards telling me I was pretty or that they wanted me to be their girlfriend,' Alana says. 'They'd leave their phone number because they knew we had mobiles. I was often targeted for being the 'white gringo' in the prison.' Alana says having a mobile phone was commonplace, and hiding them became a lucrative business for inmates. Everyone was hustling to try to make money. Drugs were dropped of at night by gangs. Alana Moor Women would be paid $100 to put them in intimate places to stop them being taken, with Alana claiming some girls fit "up to five" in their private parts. 'Everyone was hustling to try to make money," she says. 'Drugs were also common. They'd be dropped in at night by gangs who would post them through the tiny letter box windows in the concrete jail.' Vile conditions 17 Alana says facilities in the prison were poor and rarely worked for several days Credit: Getty Alana claims it was common for power and water at the prison to fail for days on end, leaving them without showers or facilities to wash. 'We'd be having to put our excrement in bin bags because we couldn't flush the toilets,' she recalls. 'Then we'd be given a bucket of water to shower with for the days the power was out. This was all while it was extremely hot. 'It just wasn't sanitary. I'd get sick a lot because the water wasn't particularly clean. I had to beg and pay to get purified water. There are just layers and layers of trauma being piled onto you when you're inside. They treat you like you're nothing. Alana Moor 'Often the food we were given was rotten, but you had to eat it in order to survive. 'There are just layers and layers of trauma being piled onto you when you're inside. They treat you like you're nothing.' Alana used her prison time to do every course she could, even teaching herself Spanish. She also worked out for two hours every day and helped teach other women how to exercise to keep themselves fit. Warning to Brit drug mules 17 Bella Culley was arrested in Georgia for smuggling cannabis from Thailand Credit: East2West 17 Bella is being held in an all-female prison near Tbilisi called Penitentiary No 5 Credit: . 17 A view inside the prison where Bella is being held and could remain for decades Credit: Linkedin 17 Former air hostess Charlotte May Lee is accused of smuggling £1.2million of cannabis into Sri Lanka Credit: Instagram 17 The prison where Charlotte faces being locked up is reported to be infested with maggots and rats 17 The infamous Welikada Prison is said to be "hell" for female inmates especially 17 Cameron Bradford is being held in Germany Now she is a motivational speaker and offers dignity packages to women who find themselves in prison, and helps families advocate for drug mules in similar situations. Alana is horrified by the growing number of young British women who have recently been caught attempting to smuggle drugs. Former air hostess This week it emerged Alana says: 'I feel so sad for them, but the best thing they can do now is take accountability for their actions, as hard as that is. 'It's easy to blame other people, but you've made this decision. The best and worst thing about prison is time, so use that time wisely. "The end goal is to come out better than you went in. 'For their parents, support and love your child. They need you now more than ever. "They know they've made a mistake, and getting mad at them won't make that any better. "I will be reaching out to their families to offer help and support in any way I can.' Why Brit backpackers are prime targets, Thai cop reveals By Patrick Harrington Police Lieutenant Colonel Arun Musikim, Deputy Inspector of the Surat Thani province police force, said: 'Cases involving British nationals smuggling cannabis have been around for a while. 'There is a lot of cannabis grown on Thailand's islands in the south because the climate is suitable and it is legal. A lot of gangs are attracted to this. 'There are now various smuggling methods that we have seen. Some carry it themselves, some hire backpackers, and some send it via mail. 'This year, there have been many cases we have intercepted. Most involve British and Malaysian nationals. 'It's easy for British citizens to travel as they can enter Thailand and return to the UK without needing a visa. 'Most of the smugglers are people hired to carry the cannabis, similar to how tourists might smuggle tax-free goods. 'They're usually unemployed individuals from the UK. The gangs offer them flights, pocket money and hotel stays, just to come and travel and take a bag back home with them. 'These people often have poor social standing at home and are looking for ways to earn quick money. They find them through friends or on social media. 'Many will go to festivals or parties while they are here, just like they are having a normal trip abroad. 'They are told that it is easy and they will not be caught. Then the amount the organisers can sell the cannabis for in the UK is much higher than it costs in Thailand. 'Police suspect that there are multiple employers and groups receiving the drugs on the other end. The cannabis then enters the UK market. 'We are being vigilant to ensure there are no routes out of the country.' 17
Sunday World
19 hours ago
- Sunday World
John George murder suspect got married in secret while on the run in Gibraltar
Madison Allen revealed the couple have been granted 'conjugal visits' twice a month in Spain. John George murder suspect Jonny Smyth got married in February to his OnlyFans partner Madison Allen, we can reveal. The couple sneaked off to a private ceremony in Gibraltar while Spanish cops were on the hunt for 27-year-old Smyth. Last night 19-year-old Madison, from north Belfast told the Sunday World she had wanted to keep their marriage private so as not to upset anyone but that someone had got wind of it and so she wanted to 'let the world know'. And she revealed the couple have been granted 'conjugal visits' twice a month since Jonny was locked-up in Spain. 'We got married in February and I don't care now who knows,' she told the Sunday World. Madison Allen's wedding ring 'We tied the knot at the Convent which is the governors residence. We travelled from Portugal to Gibraltar on the 14th because Gibraltar is UK territory so the wedding is legal back home and then we went back to Portugal. 'I'm the happiest I've ever been right now and we both know we are each other's number one supporter and always will be. 'I'm forever grateful for how happy he makes me and the things he has done for me in the past and even now and it will continue - we will continue to be and do our best for each other. 'We had wanted to get married for so long and we decided to do it in February in private. 'Jonny proposed in Portugal on the 11th of February and we got married three days later on Valentines Day. 'We had no friends or family there – we had strangers for witnesses. We will have a full wedding when he gets out on bail and then we'll do it all properly.' Jonny Smyth is one of two men Spanish police quizzed about the murder of John George in Alicante in December last year. Former gym owner Smyth fled his apartment in Spain during the police investigation and he and Madison rented a property in Portugal until John's campaigning father Billy George tracked them down and he was arrested and returned to Spain. Smyth and Allen in Gibraltar John George disappeared in December in the Alicante area. His remains were found in January following extensive appeals from the family and friends who travelled out to search for his body. The father of two was shot and his body was left in a rural area in the Alicante region around December 14 but his body wasn't discovered for several weeks. In the aftermath Madison was subjected to a hate campaign from online supporters of John George who claimed she had covered up the murder. 'I've done nothing wrong and neither has Jonny,' she claimed Madison Allen and Smyth 'I made my witness statement to the police two weeks ago – I have never been arrested because they know I had nothing to do with it – no matter what anyone else wants to say.' Smyth was made a wanted man in January after disappearing following the discovery of missing Mr George's body in an orchard in Rojales near Torrevieja south of Alicante. He was held on March 25th on an international arrest warrant after being tracked down to an unnamed Airbnb in Braga, a city in the far north of Portugal. After being brought back to Spain, Smyth was initially held in a remand prison near the border town of Badajoz in Spain's south-west Extremadura region after being driven across the frontier by armed cops. He was then transferred to another prison where he is at the centre of an ongoing investigation into the murder of Belfast dad-of-two John George. Madison says whatever happens to Jonny she won't be returning to Northern Ireland ever again. 'I believe he's done nothing wrong – he's been held for several months and there's been no charge. 'They are only holding him in case he runs away but I told them to take his passport or put a tag on him but they won't. 'We will always live in Spain – we will never return to Northern Ireland. He could be locked up but I think he will be set free because he's done nothing wrong. 'I'll still be in Spain with or without Jonny. He will either be with me in Spain or he'll be in prison. Since we got married we have been allowed to meet up for conjugal visits twice a months which has been great.' She says after they tied the knot they went out for dinner but they are planning a full wedding when Jonny is released. 'We just went out for dinner afterwards – my mum or the rest of my family knew I was even with Jonny at that stage – they thought he was in Thailand and I was in Spain. 'When he proposed I sent a picture of the ring to my mum but she didn't believe it- until I sent her a picture of the marriage certificate. 'I was shopping one day and I came back and he had the apartment all decorated and he asked me to marry him. And I couldn't believe it and said 'yes' straight away. 'He bought the ring last July and he said he would marry me – after the fallout after the John George murder he realised I was the only one to stand by him. 'I'm proud to be his wife he's been there for me more than anybody. At the start when I first met him he asked me what my job was and I said OnlyFans but he made me stop it but I said to him I want to do it and he agreed and when he saw how much I was making he joined in. 'We made £10,000 in a week. He still has money and is able to send me money. It's money from the gym. 'I'd been friends with John George for four years – not once until he died did I know he had kids or any family. I feel so sorry for his mum. I have no sympathy for anyone else – what has gone on since John was murdered regarding the treatment of me has been completely out of order. 'Anyone who has said anything bad about me is just jealous of a 19-year-old living her life with a supportive husband.' Madison says she and Jonny have always known each other but had never been together until she went out to Spain. 'I moved out to Spain and we became really good friends and he promised he would always look after me. 'After all the drama he realised that I am the only one that truly stuck by him and I always will no matter what. I can't thank him enough for the opportunities he has given me and everything he has done for me. 'From I first time met him in Spain he always promised and knew I was the one he was going to marry and I proved myself to him that I will have his back. 'So he kept his promise by us going to get married at the start of the year - something we both wanted for so long.'
