Model Speaks Out About Serving Prison Time in Peru for Smuggling $1.6 Million in Drugs
Michaella McCollum Connolly, was arrested in 2013 for smuggling $1.6 million in drugs from Peru to Spain. She met a guy in Ibiza who convinced her to be a drug mule for a mere $4,000. McCollum stated that she was on a drug bender fueled by ketamine and mushrooms when she agreed to smuggle the drugs. In case you are unaware, this is an all too common issue for young travelers across the world. Just give a few episodes of Locked Up Abroad a watch.
“I didn’t even know where Peru was,” Connolly said. “It could have been in South Africa for all I knew. They said to us a few times, ‘Thailand or Peru.’”
So she hopped on a flight with enough drugs to kill a small country and had no idea what part of the world she was headed to. On her trip, Connolly met fellow drug mule Melissa Reid at the airport in Spain before the duo flew to Lima, Peru. The “Peru Two” acted as tourists and visited Machu Picchu. As they left Peru, they picked up 32 parcels of cocaine sealed within their luggage.
While in Lima’s Jorge Chavez International Airport, a plain clothes officer searched the suspicious couples’ bags. Consequently, the two were arrested and booked into a prison for three years. They recalled sleeping on concrete bunks, using a hole in the ground as a toilet, and getting eaten alive by mosquitos.
In the end, McConolly survived her prison sentence by participating in dance competitions and running a beauty salon. Beats getting shanked on in the yard or staring at a concrete wall. Connolly was released on parole after serving only half her sentence.
