Peru Two Sentenced: Michaela McCollum And Melissa Reid Receive 6 Years And 8 Months In Jail

Michaela McCollum and Melissa Reid have been sentenced to six years and eight months for attempting to smuggle £1.5 million (€1.8) worth of cocaine out of Peru in August. The verdicts were handed down to the 20-year-olds in a closed court in the Peruvian capital of Lima this afternoon. Co. Tyrone woman, Michaela McCollum Connolly, along with Melissa Reid from Glasgow were stopped at Lima airport in August on their way to Spain carrying cocaine concealed inside food packets. Sentenced: Melissa Reid (left) and Michaela McCollum (right). At the time of their arrest the girls told Peruvian authorities that they we the victims of kidnapping and forced to travel to Majorca from Ibiza. The girls, who were both working in the holiday destination, claimed they were then sent to Peru and forced to carry the drugs in their luggage. Later Michaela and Melissa both agreed to plead guilty to the charges of smuggling £1.5m worth of cocaine with the prospect of a more lenient sentence of six years and eight months. Sky News have confirmed that the pair have received that exact term.