The head of Ibiza’s police investigation into drug trafficking claims against two UK women has cast doubt on claims they were coerced into trying to smuggle drugs out of Peru.
Melissa Reid, from Lenzie near Glasgow, and Michaella McCollum, from Dungannon, both 20, are accused of trying to smuggle ?1.5m worth of cocaine.
The pair deny the claims, saying they were forced into it by a gang in Ibiza, reports the BBC.
But police said they had several opportunities to alert the authorities.
First Sergeant Alberto Arean Varela, head of the anti-drug and organised crime police unit at the Guardia Civil in Ibiza, said the claims ran counter to his knowledge of trafficking cases.
“Sincerely, with my experience, I don’t think these girls were forced to do this,” he told the BBC.
“Because, particularly when you go to South America, you need to pass several consuls so the first thing you [would] do is go to the passport consul and say ‘Listen, this is what is happening to me’, and the police will react – so I don’t think they were forced.”
