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Melissa Reid to be deported from Peru after drug mule conviction | Melissa Reid to be deported from Peru after drug mule conviction |
(35 minutes later) | |
A Peruvian judge has granted an order expelling Scottish drug mule Melissa Reid from the country following her 2013 conviction for attempting to smuggle £1.5m worth of cocaine. | |
The 22-year-old and Michaella McCollum from North Ireland were sentenced to six years and eight months after pleading guilty to drug smuggling. | |
They were caught with the 24lb (11kg) haul in food packets hidden in their luggage while trying to get on board a flight to Spain from Lima Airport in August 2013. | |
They initially claimed they had been forced to carry the drugs but pleaded guilty later that year. | |
The maximum prison term for drug smuggling in Peru is 15 years but they were given a shorter sentence as part of deal brokered behind closed doors. | |
The UK Foreign Office has confirmed her deportation but it is likely Reid will have to remain in Peru for another month to fulfil her parole conditions. | |
A spokeswoman told The Independent: "We can confirm that Melissa Reid has been granted expulsion from Peru. | |
"We remain in contact with Melissa, her family and local authorities." | |
Reid, who was just 19 at the time of her arrest, has served around a third of her sentence and under Peruvian law this makes her eligible to be deported, the BBC reports. | |
She also paid a fine of 10,000 soles (£2082). | |
McCollum was released last month and is believed to be living in Lima. | |
In her first interview following her release, she told Irish broadcaster RTE that she had been "very naive, so young and very insecure". | |
She said: "A lot of times I didn't know how to say no to somebody. | |
"I kind of just followed along with it and I guess a part of me kind of wanted to be something I'm not. | |
"But, simply, I made a decision in my moment of madness." | |
Reid's father Billy told the Scottish Daily Record that his daughter was sorry for her actions. | |
Speaking from the family's home in Lenzie, near Glasgow, he said: "Almost three years of our lives have now been spent with this significant burden on our shoulders. It has taken its toll on the whole family. | |
"While her friends have celebrated their 21st birthdays, graduated from university and had babies, she has been confined to her cell. | |
"She regrets the predicament she finds herself in, is apologetic for her actions and wants to show that she can be a credit to her family and to make things right". |
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