Jailed Drugs Mule Could Be Back In UK In Weeks

Authorities in Peru have approved a prison transfer for drugs mule Melissa Reid meaning she could be back in the UK within weeks.

The 21-year-old was jailed for cocaine smuggling in 2013 and has been seeking to serve the remainder of her six-year sentence closer to home in Scotland.

Reid, from Lenzie, East Dunbartonshire, and Michaella McCollum, from Co Tyrone, were caught with £1.5m worth of drugs at Lima airport.

It is understood a judge has approved a prison transfer request and officers from the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) are ready to travel to Peru to collect Reid.

An SPS spokeswoman said: "We have not yet received any formal notification. When the application has been approved, the necessary measures will be put in place for the transfer."

Reid and McCollum were working in Ibiza when they claim they were forced to board a flight with 24lb of cocaine in food packets hidden inside their luggage.

They pleaded guilty to drug smuggling and each received a jail term of six years and eight months.

The repatriation of McCollum to Northern Ireland was approved by Stormont's justice minister in January this year but, like Reid, she remains in jail in Lima.

The pair had previously been held at Virgen de Fatima prison but were later moved to the Ancon 2 jail, where conditions are said to be cramped, with poor sanitation and toilet facilities.

A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said: "We continue to provide consular assistance. For reasons of consular confidentiality we cannot go into further details."