Peru Two

The Peru Two are two women, Michaella McCollum Connolly from Dungannon, Northern Ireland, and Melissa Reid from Glasgow, Scotland, both 20 when they were arrested on 6 August, 2013 for drug smuggling at Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima, Peru, after their luggage was found to contain 11 kg of cocaine.

They initially claimed they had been forced to carry the drugs by an armed gang but subsequently pleaded guilty to drug smuggling. On 17 December 2013, the pair were sentenced to 6 years and eight months in prison.

McCollum was released on parole on March 31, 2016 but will have to remain in Peru for up to six years. Reid remains in prison but hopes to be transferred to a Scottish jail to serve the remainder of her sentence.

The duo have received extensive press in Peru, the United Kingdom, Ireland and also around the world since their arrest. They took up coveted positions training in beauty therapy in a bid to become hair stylists in the Ancon 2 prison.

The pair were featured on the Channel 4 documentary Brits Behind Bars: Cocaine Smugglers, which aired on 10 October, 2015. The show detailed how drug mules are trained.

In early 2016, both girls made attempts to return to the United Kingdom, with Michaella applying to be freed on parole and Peruvian authorities agreeing to expel Melissa from the country in April 2016.