Two Canadians have pleaded guilty to smuggling cocaine into Sydney, Australia on a cruise ship.<\/p>\n
Melina Roberge, 23, and Andre Tamine, 64, had initially denied their roles in the import of 95kg (210lb) of drugs on the MS Sea Princess in 2016.<\/p>\n
But they changed their pleas ahead of a trial that was due to start this week, Australian media reported.<\/p>\n
A third Canadian, 29-year-old\u00a0Isabelle Lagac\u00e9, was sentenced to jail in November<\/a>\u00a0over her part in the crime.<\/p>\n According to authorities, the cocaine had an estimated street value of A$21m (\u00a312m; $17m), making it the largest seizure of its kind on a passenger boat in Australia.<\/p>\n On social media, Roberge and Lagac\u00e9 had posted images of themselves enjoying what appeared to be a seven-week holiday on a cruise from Southampton.<\/p>\n But when the ship docked in Sydney, police sniffer dogs found 35kg of cocaine inside their shared cabin. A further 60kg was discovered in Tamine’s cabin.<\/p>\n It was unclear how the women and Tamine were connected, local media reported. Authorities have linked them to a “well-organised syndicate”.<\/p>\n All three were charged with importing a commercial quantity of cocaine<\/a>, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of life in jail.<\/p>\n Lagac\u00e9 was given a sentence of seven and a half years in jail.\u00a0The Sydney Morning Herald reported<\/a>\u00a0she had been trying to clear an A$20,000 debt.<\/p>\n “It pains me to know my most defining years of womanhood will be spent in jail\u2026 I feel remorse and anger at myself about being involved with people who are part of a dirty, dirty drug trade,” Lagac\u00e9 said in an affidavit, according to the newspaper.<\/p>\n Roberge and Tamine will be sentenced later this year<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"