Two bikini-clad women charged with smuggling over $18 million (£17 million) worth of cocaine into Australia on a luxury cruise ship documented their lavish globe-trotting alleged “drug run” on social media.
Canadians Melina Roberge, 22, and Isabelle Lagacé, 28, traveled around the world on the MS Sea Princess, operated by California-based Princess Cruises, while allegedly carrying “commercial quantities” of the Class A drug before being detained in Sydney.
The glamorous pair attended court on Monday, along with their alleged co-conspirator and fellow Canadian Andre Tamine, 63, charged with trying to smuggle 200 pounds worth of cocaine into the country.
The luxury cruise, costing around $12,600 (£11,400), started in Britain and toured the US and South America, including Colombia and Peru, before sailing to New Zealand and then Australia.
The haul was the largest seizure in Australia of narcotics carried by passengers of a cruise ship or airliner, Australian Border Force commander Tim Fitzgerald said.
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The three did not enter pleas when they were charged in the Sydney Central Local Court with importing a commercial quantity of cocaine. They face life sentences if convicted.
They will remain in custody until their next court appearance on Oct. 26.
Roberge and Lagacé’s social media accounts are awash with exotic snaps from the alleged drug run, including pictures of the pair drinking from coconuts on a white sand beach.
Other posts show the duo riding quad bikes through a desert, hiking in Peru and exploring beach caves in their bikinis.
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The suspects boarded the ship in Southampton. Police are investigating whether they boarded with the drugs or sourced them from one of several South American ports the ship visited on its way to Australia.
Fitzgerald thanked the US Department of Homeland Security and the Canada Border Services Agency for helping identify the three as “high-risk passengers” among the 1,800 on board.
Fitzgerald alleged 77 pounds of cocaine were found in suitcases in a cabin the women shared and 132 pounds of the drug were found in the man’s luggage in a separate cabin.