Sunday 18 August 2013

Peru drugs case to go to prosecutor

Source BBC News@ tienganhvui.com




Video footage shows Michaella McCollum and Melissa Reid questioned in Peru on suspicion of drug trafficking



The Peruvian police investigation into drug trafficking claims against two UK women is expected to be passed to the state prosecutor's office later so formal charges can be made.


Melissa Reid, from Lenzie near Glasgow, and Michaella McCollum, from Dungannon, both 20, are accused of trying to smuggle £1.5m worth of cocaine.


Police say it was found in food packets in their luggage at Lima airport.


Both deny the allegations, saying armed men forced them to carry the bags.


The pair could face lengthy prison sentences if found guilty of drug smuggling.


The BBC's Will Grant, in Lima, said that two weeks after their arrest for attempting to carry 24lb (11kg) of cocaine out of the city's airport, Ms McCollum and Ms Reid would soon find out the exact nature of the charges against them.


Video evidence

Peru anti-drug police's lead investigator, Tito Perez, told the BBC his unit had been checking into the women's version of events by travelling to the hotels they had stayed in.


Officers had also gathered video evidence from the city of Cusco where they claimed the drug gang had taken them.


The report is due to form the basis of the pre-trial hearing which will determine what the two young women will be charged with.


If refused bail, they could face up to three years in jail before trial.


Legal experts in Peru suggest the normal charge in such a case would be for drug smuggling, which carries an average sentence of about eight to nine years in prison.


If they are accused of being members of a criminal organisation, they could face harsher sentences.


The BBC has spoken to a number of Europeans in jail in Lima.


Several said that, despite claiming to have had drugs planted on them, they had eventually pleaded guilty to receive a lesser sentence.


Gun claim

The BBC's Will Grant said that while it remained possible the charges against them could be dropped or the case dismissed most analysts believed, given the high profile of the case, this was unlikely.


Meanwhile, Ms McCollum's lawyer, Peter Madden, has said he intends to discuss her case with police later at the holding centre in Lima where the pair are being detained.


Ms Reid and Ms McCollum had been working at bars in San Antonio, Ibiza - a popular resort for thousands of young British tourists every summer - when they said they were befriended by a man from London.


They claimed they were then forced at gunpoint to make the journey to Peru, shadowed by gang members along the way.


They were stopped on 6 August when they tried to board a flight from Lima airport to Madrid.


The women have previously said they were unable to go to the authorities because the gang had threatened to kill their families if they did not co-operate.


Meanwhile, First Sergeant Alberto Arean Varela - head of the anti-drug and organised crime police unit at the Guardia Civil in Ibiza - has said he does not believe "these girls were forced to do this".





Đăng ký: Tieng Anh Vui

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