British Girls Who Tried To Smuggle £1.5m Worth Of Cocaine Out Of Peru Might Face 3 Years Before Trial

Former shop worker Miss Reid and dancer Miss McCollum Connolly were arrested as they prepared to board an Air Europa flight from Lima to Madrid before taking a second plane to their final destination in Majorca.

Assistance coordinator Bruno Min have said that: 'We deal with hundreds of cases each year. Out of all of the cases we deal with in Latin America perhaps Peru might be one of the largest producers of our case load.

'The vast majority of cases that we have dealt with from Peru are drugs offences, possibly because it is a large producer of illegal drugs.

Ms Reid and Ms McCollum Connolly could be held pre-charge for up to 30 days, he said, and then could spend up to three years in prison before a trial.

 

'They can be held pre-charge for 15 days for drugs cases; that can be extended for another 15 days,' he said.

'And if they are charged they will be sent to prison before their trial goes ahead and we understand that the maximum period for pre-trial detention is 36 months.

'If you are charged with a drugs offence, it is our understanding that you are very unlikely to get released before your trial takes place, you're almost ineligible for bail.

'There is the likelihood that they could end up spending 36 months in pre-trial detention.'

He added that: 'Peru is one of those countries where the justice system suffers from delays; it's not uncommon for people to complain to us about delays in their cases.

Source: Daily Mail