Prosecutors in Peru say they are likely to charge two young women from the UK with drug trafficking on Monday or Tuesday next week.  Michaella McCollum and Melissa Reid, 20 and 19 years old respectively, will then spend several months in custody in one of Peru’s notoriously horrid prisons before appearing before a judge in a trial or for sentencing.

The women claim they were forced at gunpoint by Colombian gangsters to carry packages in their luggage as they left Peru.  At the airport, it was discovered the packages contained cocaine.  Both women have since been interviewed by a detective from the UK's Serious Organized Crime Agency, as well as Irish and Spanish police and Interpol. 

Michaella’s family had lost contact with her after she left Northern Ireland to work in Ibiza, and had tried to use social media to search for her only to finally reconnect when she turned up arrested in Peru.

Peruvian cops seem to be pushing the two to plead guilty and get a sentence of 6-years, which would likely be cut in half.  But fighting the charges by pleading not guilty could attract a sentence of 8 years or more if convicted.