Latest news with #MelissaReid
The Sun
7 hours ago
- The Sun
I'm the famous Peru Two drug mule – this is my warning to Brit tourists… and how gangs know EXACTLY who to target
PERU Two drug mule Michaella McCollum has warned Brit tourists about how trafficking gangs lure young girls into their criminal operations. The infamous drug trafficker served three years behind bars in 2013 alongside Melissa Reid after they were handpicked to smuggle £1.5million worth cocaine into Peru. 8 8 Since being freed from a hellhole jail in Lima, McCollum transformed her life and is now a mum and public speaker. Part of her work includes exposing how foreign drug operations try and recruit British mules. The 31-year-old appeared on Good Morning Britain this morning to speak on the increasing danger of Brits being preyed upon abroad. It comes after a spate of young women being arrested on trafficking charges including Bella May Culley, 18, and Charlotte May Lee, 21. McCollum told Susanna Reid that people are often picked by drug chiefs specifically due to how vulnerable they appear. She explained: "That's what they do these organisations, they have people that are pickers and their job is to pick people to become mules. "They'll target vulnerabilities which might be age because at 19 or 20 you're incredibly naive, you're easy to manipulate. "Then women as well as obviously women tend to be groomed and coerced in situations a lot more. "Then whether you have a drug addiction as that could also be a vulnerability." McCollum was aged 19 at the time of her first being recruited with her Peru Two partner Reid being only 20. She has also been open about her drug habits around the time of her arrest as she believes this contributed to her recruitment. Bella Culley - the teen arrested in Georgia last month - was seen smoking in videos shared to her social media in the weeks before she was stopped at the border and detained. Michaella also revealed that the drug kingpins ordering young women to become traffickers are masters at manipulation. She says that when she was first coerced into taking a suitcase of cocaine across the border her bosses convinced her that everything would be okay. Michaella was made to feel like a "little girl" when she questioned the dangers of smuggling, she said. Her concerns were always met with simple solutions, she added. She recalled once asking about how they would get the drugs through the airport before being told the airport staff is in cahoots with the operations being carried out and allow them. By the time she realised the answers were a lie, Michaelle said she was already in handcuffs. 8 8 8 She continued: "You have to understand that the level of manipulation that goes on behind it as it's not just overnight, it can be weeks of manipulation. "They ended up making me believe that this was totally fine. I was being dramatic, I was being naive to question it. "So I was so scared to say no and men know they can manipulate women to do things and I was so scared to just say no." Both Peru Two mules became friends when holidaying in Ibiza in August 2013 and were soon coerced into cocaine trafficking. But in October, they were arrested as they stepped off a lane in Lima, Peru. McCollum and Reid were convicted of drug smuggling and sentenced to six years and eight months in a dismal Ancon 2 prison. At the time, the pair's horror trip led them to becoming household names as they both admitted to being used by the gangs. In recent weeks, a string of British women have faced similar worrying experiences after being recruited by foreign gangs. A couple claiming to be tourists from Thailand were busted with more than 33kg of cannabis in their suitcases at a Spanish airport in May. Why Brit backpackers are prime targets, Thai cop reveals By Patrick Harrington, Foreign News Reporter 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.' A British OnlyFans model was also caught allegedly smuggling nearly £200,000 worth of Thai cannabis into Spain. But the two largest and most concerning cases covered Bella and Charlotte. Bella sparked a massive international search operation in early May after she was reported missing while holidaying in Thailand. However, it was later revealed that the teen, from Billingham, County Durham, had been arrested 4,000 miles away on drug offences in Georgia. She was allegedly carrying 30 pounds (14kg) of cannabis into the ex-Soviet nation. Around the same time, 21-year-old Charlotte Lee May, from Coulsdon, south London, was also arrested in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo after police discovered 46 kg of 'Kush' - a synthetic strain of cannabis - in her suitcase. The former flight attendant is now facing up to 25 years in prison if convicted. 8 8
Daily Mail
11 hours ago
- Daily Mail
I spent three years in a Lima prison for smuggling £1.5million of cocaine - it's alarming young female solo travellers are still being targeted by drugs gangs
One of the Peru Two who spent three years inside a Lima prison after being caught smuggling drugs from Ibiza at the orders of an armed gang has said she is alarmed young girls are still being targeted. Michaella McCollum and Melissa Reid were 20 when they became friends holidaying on the party island in August 2013 and were soon coerced into sneaking £1.5million worth of cocaine into Peru. They were arrested when they got off the plane in Lima, convicted of drug smuggling and sentenced to six years and eight months in the hardcore Ancon 2 prison - though they were released in 2016. Michaella, now 31, appeared on Good Morning Britain today in the wake of the arrests of Bella May Culley, 18, and Charlotte May Lee, 21, who have made global headlines in recent weeks as they face drug smuggling charges and up to 20 years in jail. She said she feels it's 'something that's always been happening' but now the public are being made aware of a small minority of cases, adding: 'I think it's alarming that its all young girls and its all similar stories. 'They've all travelled to a country alone, that they haven't been to before and their families are filing missing persons reports and they wind up in prison. I mean, it's a similar story to my situation.' The former drug mule turned author and public speaker explained how when she arrived in Ibiza at 19 it was the first time she had ever left the UK and she was 'completely alone'. 'Within two weeks I started making friends and relationships and I made a friendship with this group of people that ended up luring me into trafficking drugs,' she said. Michaella, who admits to consuming 'a lot' of drugs and alcohol at the time, felt 'inclined to spend more time with them' because she thought they were 'good people' who didn't party. But it wasn't until she was caught red handed by Peruvian police that she would realise she had been targeted and manipulated. She told hosts Richard Madeley and Susanna Reid: 'That's what they do, these organisations. They have people that are pickers and their job meerly is to pick people to become mules and they will target their vulnerabilities. 'It might be their age because at 19 or 20 you're incredibly naive, you're easy to manipulate. 'Women as well tend to be groomed and coerced in situations a lot more. If you have a drug addiction, that can be a vulnerability. There's so many different vulnerabilities.' Bella May Culley and Charlotte May Lee have faced much public scrutiny for allegedly attempting to smuggling drugs from Thailand to Georgia and Sri Lanka with the public questioning why they would risk it all. Michaella offered some explanation for why young girls might decide to agree to be used as a drug mule for gangs. 'You have to understand the level of manipulation behind it, its not just overnight, its probably weeks of manipulation. 'They ended up making me believe that this was totally fine, I was being dramatic, I was being naive to question it. Bella May Culley, 18, from Billingham, County Durham, seen in court in Tbilisi after she was detained at at the city's airport ion suspicion of carrying 14kg of cannabis 'They were like "everybody does this, this is fine, we work with police, we work with everybody in the airport, you're being dramatic, you've never done this, you've never left the country" making me feel like a little girl who doesn't know anything and I was so scared to say no. The mother-of-two believes girls are targeted because men 'know they can manipulate women to do things', adding she herself was 'so scared' to say no. 'You're so far away from your family and this is another vulnerability. These women are in Thailand, they're so far away from family. 'When you don't have contact with your family and your friends, you're even more vulnerable.'
