Post date: Aug 20, 2013 7:58:14 PM
British women detained in Peru on accusations of drug smuggling are formally charged in the case.
LIMA, PERU (AUGUST 20, 2013 (REUTERS) - Two British women held in Peru on accusations of drug smuggling were moved to a detention centre in Lima on Tuesday (August 20) after charges were officially lodged in the case.
The two were moved to a detention centre in the Callao district and are expected to be moved again later in the day to another detention centre where it will be determined which prison they will be sent to.Twenty-year-old Michaella McCollum Connolly and 19-year-old Melissa Reid were detained in Lima last week, accused of trying to smuggle millions of dollars worth of cocaine to Europe. The two women have protested their innocence, saying they were forced to carry items in their luggage at gunpoint.
Peruvian officials say the two women were en route to Madrid and Majorca on Tuesday (August 06) when airport officials discovered almost 12 kilos (26 lbs) of cocaine hidden inside food packages in their luggage. The cocaine was said to have a street value of some two million U.S. dollars.
Embassy officials in Northern Ireland and Britain have reportedly been in contact with Peruvian authorities to offer consular assistance to the suspects.
Peru ranks among Colombia and Bolivia as one of the world's largest producers of cocaine.