The BBC got viewers talking with a new documentary starring convicted drug mule Michaella McCollum, one of the infamous Peru Two who made headlines around the world eight years ago.
It was in the summer of 2013 that Michaella and Melissa Reid, a 20-year-old Irish model from Scotland, were thrown behind bars in Peru after being arrested at Lima airport and found in possession of more than 10 kilos of cocaine, worth £ 1.5m, in their suitcases.
At first the girls, who were both working in Ibiza that summer, maintained the story that they were forced into drug trafficking, but, after learning they were at risk for up to 15 years in prison, changed their plea and ended up with sentences of six years and eight months.
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Their shocking crime is now the subject of High, a five-part documentary that aired in full on BBC iPlayer this weekend, with its first episode also airing at 10:35 p.m. Sunday on BBC1.
While Melissa does not appear in the dramatized documentary, Michaella, who released the entire book You’ll Never See The Light Of Day Again in 2019, is in the spotlight throughout and gives candid explanations for how she’s doing. ‘is found embroiled in a drug scandal which has shocked everyone including her family in Ireland who believed she was missing and launched a desperate campaign for information after not hearing from her for weeks before learning the life-changing reason for his absence.
Now a mother of two, Michaella claims she was drawn into the world of drug dealing by a guy she met in Ibiza before being told she would take a short trip to Barcelona to buy drugs.
In fact, she ended up going to Palma, where she met Melissa and then, when she caught her flight to Lima, she realized that it was not, as she thought, another region. from Spain, but a nearly 12 hour drive to Peru where the girls were told to act like tourists to avoid arousing suspicion.
In High, Michaella also recounts how a doctor thought she went ‘crazy’ when she first started behind bars before she managed to turn the tide by getting a job in Ancon II prison’s own beauty salon and becoming delegate, elected chief prisoner, for her block.
She firmly believes this helped speed up her passage to freedom, as she was able to effectively buy herself a court hearing by putting money in the direction of influential people.
Michaella was freed after less than three years of her sentence and returned home to Ireland, where after initially believing she had been the victim of a terrifying plot, many locals were far from sympathetic.
Even Michealla herself admits: “I understand that some people will always have a hard time forgiving me for what I have done”, but adds: “When you are young you don’t know everything, and you can screw it up. looks. but you don’t have to let that define the rest of your life, even if some people wanted to. “