Peru expels British woman convicted of drug trafficking
A court in Lima approved the expulsion of Briton Melissa Reid, granting a petition for her release filed by her attorneys (AFP Photo/Ernesto Benavides) Authorities in Peru said they will expel a British woman in prison since 2013 after being convicted of trafficking cocaine.
A court in Lima approved the expulsion of Briton Melissa Reid, granting a petition for her release filed by her attorneys.
Reid, 22, was arrested in August 2013 at Lima\’s international airport along with a woman from Ireland, Michaella McCollum. Both women were said to have cocaine in their luggage which they were trying to smuggle out of the country, according to authorities.
Reid had served about a third of her six-year prison sentence, according to a press release issued by the court, which said she also had to pay a fine equivalent to about $3,000.
Officials said she will remain in prison until her expulsion, which is expected to take place sometime within the next few weeks.
McCollum was granted parole last month on a conditional release.
McCollum, 23, who hails from County Tyrone in Northern Ireland but is a national of the Irish Republic, resides in Lima and must present herself to officials once a month as a condition of her release.
SOURCE: AFP
The Times of Earth ( TOE) founded in 1999, is a multilingual newspaper that is printed and circulated in many countries including some parts of the United States and Canada. It is considered as the largest trusted & respected international multimedia news/financial information source of the world.