Drug-smuggling suspects taunted via Facebook

Internet trolls have added to the distress of the family of Irish drug mule Michaella McCollum-Connolly by spouting abuse on a Facebook page set up to support her.

Ms McCollum-Connolly, 20, from Co Tyrone and her friend, Melissa Reid, 20, from Scotland, are both detained in the Peruvian capital Lima after being caught trying to leave the country with an estimated €1.7m worth of cocaine.

The pair, who had been working in nightclubs in Ibiza, say were forced to make the trip by a Spanish drugs gang who threatened them at gunpoint.

However, their story has attracted scorn on a Facebook page set up to campaign for their release, with contributors criticising the women and making tasteless jokes about their plight.

A senior police officer in Ibiza who heads the island’s drugs and organised crime unit has said their version of events was not credible.

Sgt Alberto Arean Varela said: “Sincerely, with my experience, I don’t think these girls were forced to do this.

“Because, particularly when you go to South America, you need to pass several consuls so the first thing you do is go to the passport consul and say: ‘Listen, this is what is happening to me’.”

Both women are due before the courts today or tomorrow to have their detention reviewed but have been warned not to expect a change in circumstances.

Suspects in Peru can be held for several years before a trial and the fact they are foreigners means they would be considered a flight risk if granted bail.

The women, who have been in custody for almost a fortnight, received a boost in recent days when family members arrived in Lima and were granted short visits with them.

Ms Reid’s father and Ms McCollum’s brother were both allowed to spend time with them and try to assure them that everything would be done to help them.

Ms McCollum was only in Ibiza a few weeks when she stopped contact with her family and left for Peru. Her family had reported her missing and begun an internet campaign for information when it emerged she had been arrested.

If convicted of drug smuggling at a trial, the women could face 20 years in one the country’s notoriously harsh jails.

A guilty plea in advance would normally result in a greatly reduced sentence but to avail of leniency, they would be under pressure to reveal the identities of those who supplied the drugs.

Any indication that they gave information about others involved in drugs smuggling would put them in danger.