The two women held over suspected drug trafficking in Peru have claimed they were forced to act at gunpoint by Colombian gangsters, it was claimed last night.

Video footage has emerged of Michaella McCollum-Connolly and Melissa Reid being questioned at Lima International airport.

Squalid, cramped conditions in Peruvian prisons see inmates forced to sleep in toilets and at risk of contracting diseases such as HIV, campaigners have claimed.

The mother of an Irish model being held on suspicion of drug trafficking in Peru has spoken of her distress.

An Irishwoman could face up to 25 years in a “pretty dour and horrible jail” if she’s convicted of drug trafficking in Peru.