LIMA, Peru – Two British women arrested trying to smuggle 24 pounds of cocaine out of Peru have appeared before a judge for questioning.
The lawyer for Irish-born Michaella McCollum and Melissa Reid, from Scotland, refused to comment to reporters on the content of Tuesday's hearing.
Attorney Meyer Fishman said he could not comment until the young women are sentenced.
The two had the option of pleading guilty in exchange for a lower sentence.
The case's prosecutor says that if they plead guilty, 20-year-old McCollum and 19-year-old Reid face a minimum of six years and eight months in prison with no eligibility for parole.
According to Peru's national prisons institute, 90 percent of the 1,648 foreigners in the country's prisons are either sentenced or awaiting trial for drug trafficking.
