Peru mules could be free in months

New deal on offer to Reid and McCollum.

Melissa Reid and Michaella McCollum have been offered a sensational deal that could see them home by Christmas. Prosecutors in Lima have told the 20-year-olds they will release them in just two months if they name the criminal masterminds behind their failed bid to smuggle cocaine to Spain.

The deal on the table ahead of a crucial court appearance this week would see the girls collaborate with Peru’s authorities to track down the drug gangs they are believed to be shielding. The pair were caught with cocaine worth £1.5 million hidden in their luggage as they tried to return to Europe.

Last night Melissa’s family in Lenzie, near Glasgow, were remaining tight-lipped over whether or not she would take the deal.

After weeks of protesting their innocence, Melissa and Michaella confessed to drug smuggling in the hope of getting a reduced sentence. But Peruvian authorities are now demanding more information before they allow the girls to benefit from an early termination process.

That system sees drug mules automatically receive a sixth off the minimum eight- year sentence for an early guilty plea to drug trafficking.

However last night, chief prosecutor Juan Mendoza Abarca said: “There is a possibility these two women can be out of prison in around two months and never have to go back to jail.

“But they have to give us all the information they have names, addresses, contact details and so on so we can bring the drugs gangs, here in Peru and abroad, to justice.

“The women’s’ story about being kidnapped and forced to Peru at gunpoint is illogical. Our experience is that drug mules come to Peru from Europe of their own free will to make money. We believe Melissa and Michaella have the information we need to identify and capture the criminals behind them.

“There will be people in Peru, Spain and possibly the UK they were involved with who are still operating and sending drugs mules like Melissa and Michaella here. The women hold their own future in their hands.

“They have the option of collaborating with the state prosecution, helping us bring down this criminal organisation and tasting freedom again very quickly or saying nothing and going to jail for a very long time.”

The girls had been anticipating that, by admitting drug smuggling, they would be able to benefit from the early termination process and receive jail sentences of six years and eight months.

But prosecutors put their foot down after the girls’ confessions last week in court.

They insist they will not agree to any deals unless they gave credible information about the pair’s journey to Peru and the drug masters they came into contact with in Spain and South America.

It had been hinted they could receive a further sentence reduction if they named names. But until now it had not been spelled out so plainly. If they fail to convince prosecutors they have done enough even to merit the benefit of an early termination process, they will go to trial and could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

A source close to the case said: “Melissa and Michaella are aware that collaborating with the state prosecutor is an option. If they know more than they are letting on, then they face an agonising decision.

“Snitching on an international drugs gang obviously carries its risks. But spending some of the most important years of your life in jail won’t be very pleasant either.”