Drugs mule accused to plead guilty

Scottish woman hopes deal will get her home soon as possible

One of two British women arrested on suspicion of trying to smuggle cocaine worth £1.5million out of Peru is prepared to plead guilty in exchange for a short sentence.

Scot Melissa Reid, 20, hopes a plea deal will see her get home to Glasgow as soon as possible, she said.

It has been reported that the deal could get her sentence cut from up to 25 years to just six years and eight months.

Her family believes she could be released in three years.

In a telephone interview Miss Reid, who is in the notorious Virgen de Fatima prison in the Peruvian capital, Lima, said she did not want to be in prison until she was 35.

“I am really scared about what I am about to do, but Iamalso relievedthat there couldbealight at theendof the tunnel,” she said.

“I’m now coming

to terms with the fact I amso far away from my family. This is real.

“After a lot of thought and advice frommy lawyer, I amgoing to go in front of the judge and admit I was in possession of the drugs and that I went to Peru to pick up drugs to take them to Spain – I am willing to plead guilty to that.

“I did it under duress, I still maintain that, and I amglad I do not have to say

“I did it under duress, I still maintain that”

I accepted money to do it.”

Reid was stopped along with Michaella McCollum, 20, from Dungannon, Co Tyrone, with 24lb (11kg) of cocaine hidden in food packets in their luggage while trying to board a flight to Spain last month.

The pair claim they were forced to carry the drugs by an armed gang who threatened them and their family members.

They have reportedly told the Peruvian authorities they were working in Ibiza and did not meet before they were both kidnapped at gunpoint and forced to travel to Majorca.

Miss Reid’s father William has previously said he believes the pair should plead guilty in order to get the legal process over quickly.

He said: “We are considering this as good a result as we could have hoped for.

“It seems strange to be happy about the prospect of your 20-year-old daughter being sentenced to six years and eight months in jail, but we are delighted.

“Crucially, we could start pushing for her to be transferred to Scotland.”