I have no sympathy at all. They are old enough to know what they were doing and old enough to take the punishment. They took a gamble and it didn't pay off, as others have said, if they had 'won' they would be happily enjoying the 'winnings'. They lost and that means they loose their stake (their liberty). But that's gambling, don't put it up unless you can afford to loose it. Those drugs would have been destined for Ibiza, and who knows where. The problems caused by those drugs could reach and ruin many lives. Bang 'em up! P.S. a bit of weed's OK though :biggrin: :wink:
What I want to know is why the girl on the left is wearing a Minnie Mouse head-dress. A disguise perhaps?
Double standards... Always seems odd to me that if someone commits a serious crime and gets caught at home, we get calls to lock 'em up and no sentence is too harsh etc. But when it happens abroad, people and the press are often sympathetic to them as if they are somehow victims, sometimes to the point that the Government will get involved in helping the perps get a lighter sentence/sent home with a slapped wrist. Regardless of a person's age/naivety everyone knows that drug smuggling is illegal and that some countries take a particularly harsh view of it - If you can't do the time then don't commit the crime...
Everyone here is assuming they went to Peru knowing what they were doing on the return journey. Everyone here assumes they know the facts. They had never met each other until they arrived in Peru. i bet they both met a nice man in Spain who told them they would take them on a nice holiday, and when the got there they were faced with either being sold into prostitution or told to take the bags. None of their family knew they were in Peru. Why might that be? We're they told not to say? Hard to get home when you have no passport, phone, money and no one knows where you are. You are all talking as if drug dealers are nice people, who would never dream of behaving in a ruthless manner, and you guys are calling the girls naive. Seriously?
Young people in the UK rarely have to take responsibility for or fear the consequences of their actions, until they get into trouble in some far flung land, then it is too late.
My mother in law went to visit my brother in law in a borstal forty years ago, and on arriving told one of the warders "He's a good lad really". The warders response was "They're all good lads in here missus !"
@749er Let's assume all you said is correct, the game is up for drug smugglers the moment they cross airport door. None of them would fallow them in to many cops, to harsh consequences hence they look for idiots to do it for them. They had 3 choices the moment they went to airport go along with plan. Call cops Call embassy
They knew the deal .... you know that you get caught its death penalty I don't care how much money is on offer ... no way would I chance it.. quite frankly the thought of some bloke with latex gloves would be enough to scare the bejesus out of me ta very much !
And they would know the date of their return because? they would not know. They were duped by someone they thought was a nice bloke who was taking them away in a romantic way. They get off the plane, its guns to the head, passport and phone taken. A quick bit of googling by the drug smugglers using information from the girls about where they live, as well as the passport info and they quickly have the names of their family members, addresses and threats get made. choice: take the drugs and make some cash or we kill your parents who live at .........and we sell your tail to the local whore house. You will never see home again. why would a teenage girl do such a stupid thing, if they were not being threatened?
well yes, I can see your point. But drug smugglers don't work alone. They have people at both ends of the operation. Ie people in Europe who could carry out threats made to their family members. no one read Mr Nice? i don't believe it's that easy to make rational decisions when you Have Mr 9mm stuck in your mouth.
So why do they keep changing their story? First they claimed that they didn't know the drugs were there, then this story about being threatened with guns... I'm also sceptical about them not knowing each other. I read yesterday they said they flew to Peru from Morocco... There are no direct flights from Morocco to Peru. You have to go to mainland Spain... Personally I think they are guilty as sin. One thing is for certain. They won't be having a good time for at least the next few months, and maybe the next couple of decades!
Maybe because they are young, scared for themselves, scared for their family, alone and totally out of their depth? Or maybe drug smugglers always offer their mules a straight up deal, because they are fine upstanding citizens. They just forgot to tell the mules the best way out if they got caught.
"why would a teenage girl do such a stupid thing, if they were not being threatened?" Simple answer - money...
Appreciate your view, but even in the interviews that have been televised, they are as calm as Hindu cows... If I was in that position I'd be kakking it... Girls especially are normally seen breaking down in tears... Nah!... Guilty as a peado behind a tree if you ask me...
As the only person who has posted on here who feel they are victims, you make some very good arguments. The only two people (that we know of) who know the truth, are the two girls in the dock. If they knew what was going on, then touch shit hun, its all over. If they are innocent, I hope they are vindicated of the crime and can carry on a normal life safe and sound.
None of us know what happened so I don't think we should be passing judgement. its almost impossible that they did not know they were carrying something dodgy. That does not mean to say they knew it was cocaine. It could have been explosives, diamonds, cash or something else which should have been declared. People are making a lot of assumptions. who goes back packing in Peru for 5 days? The Peruvian border people would know their date of entry. why would Scots and Irish girls be taking oats home? They have tonnes of it back home. why package the drugs as food which is often banned from being moved about anyway? some investigators believe the girls were set up to be caught, to act as a decoy to allow a much bigger shipment through.
