Michaella McCollum says it's 'alarming' young women still targeted by drug gangs
'Peru Two' drug mule Michaella McCollum has said it's alarming that young women are still being targeted by drugs gangs to transport narcotics.
The Tyrone woman, who spent three years in a jail in Peru on smuggling charges, made the remarks in the wake of the arrest of Bella May Culley, 18, and Charlotte May Lee, 21 for alleged drug smuggling.
Michaella, part of the infamous Peru Two with Scottish woman Melissa Reid, had been sentenced to more than six years' imprisonment in 2013, but was granted early release in 2016.
The two were caught at Jorge Chávez International Airport in August 2013 with 11kg of cocaine in their suitcases hidden in cereal packets. It was worth almost €2 million.
Michaella appeared on TV show Good Morning Britain yesterday to discuss the recent high-profile arrests of Culley in Georgia and Lee in Sri Lanka. Host Richard Madeley said: "More and more, and more, mostly young people, a lot of them women, are taking phenomenal risks in taking Class A drugs into countries such as Bali, who have the death penalty if you get caught.
"What is your reading of this? What is happening?"
Dungannon woman Michaella, 31, replied: "I feel like it's something that's always been happening...
"I think it's alarming that it's all young girls, it's similar stories, they've all travelled to a country alone that they haven't been to before and their families are filing missing person reports and they wind up in prison.
"I mean, it's a similar story to my situation."
She added: "I had went to Ibiza when I was 19, it was the first time I had ever left the UK. It was my first holiday.
"Within two weeks, I started making friendships and relationships, and I made a friendship with this group of people that ended up luring me into trafficking drugs."
Host Susanna Reid asked: "When you say luring you into, what did they do?"
Michaella replied: "I had this safe group of people... they didn't take drugs, they didn't take alcohol, so I was inclined to spend more time with them and I guess I trusted them because.. they didn't party, they didn't do anything."
She added: "These organisations, they have people that are pickers, and their job mainly is to pick people to become mules.
"They will target their vulnerabilities."
Michaella revealed she was offered £5,000 (€5,930) to smuggle drugs. On how she expected to take the drugs, Michaella continued: "They didn't communicate this until the very last moment. They told me I would take one package...
"When I arrived at Peru, I realised there was 16 packages that I had to hide in my suitcase.
"I didn't have enough space in my suitcase, and I was just like, 'What am I supposed to do?'
"Do I leave these drugs now and just go?'
"You are under this fear of what to do.
"The information, they feed it to you little by little."
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