Archbishop believes drug arrest pair were 'set up'

The Archbishop of Lima has visited Michaella McCollum Connolly in jail in Peru.

The Tyrone native and her Scottish friend Melissa Reid were arrested at Lima airport last week - and accused of carrying 11 kilos of cocaine between them.

Archbishop Sean Walsh told the Irish Independent that it was his "personal feeling" that Michaella and Melissa were set up.

Amnesty International says the women could be in jail for up to 18 months awaiting trial.

Footage has emerged from the police interview where a police officer asked Melissa if she knew the suitcases contained drugs.

Reid, 19, from Scotland, and McCollum Connolly, 20, who had been living in Belfast but has an Irish passport, were arrested in Lima a week ago while trying to board a flight to Madrid.

The National Police of Peru said they found more than 24lb of cocaine – thought to be worth around €1.7m – hidden in food in the luggage of the two women.

In the online video, Ms Reid is questioned by a police interviewer and is heard to say: “I was forced to take these bags in my luggage.”

When asked if she knew they contained drugs, the 19-year-old from Lenzie in East Dunbartonshire, said: “I did not know that.”

Ms Reid and Ms McCollum Connolly both left home for separate holidays in Ibiza earlier this summer.