Photo courtesy of Instagram
Summary: Two women in their 20s and a 63-year-old man were arrested for smuggling $22 million worth of cocaine on a luxury cruise ship.
Two Canadian women who possibly never saw Brokedown Palace were arrested for smuggling drugs in their suitcases while on vacation. Before the arrest, the beautiful young pair had been documenting their travels extensively on Instagram, and their luxury vacation more than likely cost $20,000, according to AOL.
Australian Federal Police said that they found more than 200 pounds of cocaine in the suitcases of Isabelle Lagace, 28, Melina Roberge, 23, and Andre Tarmine, 63, aboard a cruise ship entering Sydney. The value of the cocaine is about $22 million, and the Canadian trio were allegedly involved with an international drug cartel.
Authorities stated that they wanted to search the ship because of an investigation involving the Canadian Border Service Agency and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
While the Instagram posts show Lagace and Roberge’s friendship, it is not entirely clear how Tarmine is involved with the women.
Time stated that Lagace and Roberge had been traveling for nearly two months aboard the Sea Princess, and they had almost 17 days left of their 68-day cruise ship itinerary. In their Instagram pictures, the girls could be seen hanging out in Times Square, getting tattoos in Tahiti, and wearing bikinis on the gorgeous beaches of South America.
It appeared to be the experience of a lifetime.
Because of the luxurious nature of the trip as well as the numerous port stops, the Sea Princess cruise attracted police attention.
“Sydney is highly attractive for cruise ships… so we’re continually risk assessing the cruise ships and the passengers that come by air. This particular cruise ship — because of the nature and the amount of ports it had been to — was considered quite high risk in itself,” Australian Border Force Commander Tim Fitzgerald said.
One of the suitcases found by the Australian police. Photo courtesy of New York Daily News.
The three face life in prison, and police say more arrests are coming. The Australian authorities wanted to let the world know that drugs were not tolerated in their country.
“These syndicates should be on notice that the Australian Border Force is aware of all of the different ways they attempt to smuggle drugs into our country and we are working with a range of international agencies to stop them,” Australian Border Force Assistant Commissioner Clive Murray said.
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Source: AOL, Time