Canadian drug mule gets 8 years in jail
Woman was caught on cruise ship in Australia with cocaine in luggage
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA— A Canadian drug mule broke down in tears in an Australian court on Wednesday when she was sentenced to eight years in prison for her part in an attempt to smuggle cocaine worth $16 million (U.S.) into Sydney in luggage aboard a luxury cruise ship.
Melina Roberge, 24, told the New South Wales state District Court that she risked a life sentence in an Australian prison for the opportunity to take selfies “in exotic locations and post them on Instagram to receive ‘likes’ and attention” during a $17,000 vacation.
Three Quebecers have pleaded guilty to smuggling 95 kilograms of the drug in suitcases aboard the MS Sea Princess during a seven-week cruise in 2016 from the U.K. to Ireland, the United States, Bermuda, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Chile then Australia.
Roberge was sentenced to a nonparole period of four years and nine months in prison before she is likely to be deported to Canada.
Judge Kate Traill condemned Roberge’s motivation for the crime as a “very sad indictment” on her age group, who “seek to attain such a vacuous existence where how many ‘likes’ they receive are their currency.”
“She was seduced by lifestyle and the opportunity to post glamorous Instagram photos from around the world,” the judge said. “She wanted to be the envy of others. I doubt she is now.”
Roberge’s accomplice, Isabelle Lagace, 29, was sentenced in November to 7.5 years in prison, backdated to their arrest.
Police with sniffer dogs found 35 kilograms of cocaine in their cabin on Aug. 28, 2016, when the liner, operated by California-based Princess Cruises, berthed in Sydney.
Lagace told the court she took part to settle a debt in Canada.
Roberge did not admit her guilt until days before her trial was due to begin in February.
Traill said Roberge was re- cruited by a wealthy Canadian benefactor, whom Roberge described in court as her “sugar daddy” but was never identified for fear of repercussions for her family in Canada, with the lure of a free vacation.
The third accomplice, Andre Tamin, 65, will be sentenced in October.
In an affidavit admitted to the court, Roberge said that at the time she was “a stupid young woman” who was governed by superficial goals.
The court heard Roberge met her “sugar daddy” in 2015, and they began an intimate relationship while she worked as an escort for him. He invited her to work as an escort in May 2016 during a trip to Morocco, where he first invited her to join a drug-smuggling voyage.
Roberge told the court she suspected drugs were brought aboard at Peru.
The judge said Roberge was also motivated by profit. She was promised the ticket, $5,000 in spending money, plus more cash once she returned home. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Canada Border Services Agency identified the trio as highrisk passengers among the 1,800 on board. The haul was a record for cocaine smuggled in luggage through an Australian air or sea port.