Drugs girl, 19 may face 25 years in jail

Melissa Reid, 19, from Lenzie, and her friend Michaella McCollum Connolly, 20, from Belfast were arrested at Lima's Jorge Chavez International Airport on Wednesday.

Police said the pair between them were carrying 11 kilos of the drug - with a European street value of about £1.5m - hidden among food in their luggage.

Peru imposes sentences of between 15 and 25 years for those convicted of smuggling more than 10 kilos.

Local media said the women had been caught because sniffer dogs had sensed that they were nervous at check-in for their flight to Palma, Majorca.

Ms Reid, who had been living on the Spanish island of Ibiza since June, had not told her parents she was travelling to South America.

Her father William Reid was said to be shocked to find out his daughter was in Lima.

This weekend he said: "We don't know anything, we haven't been told anything.

"We don't have any new information. We are not in a position to elaborate.

"We're in the position where we are just trying to come to terms with it."

The family were last night unavailable for further comment at their home in a new development on the outskirts of Lenzie.

The Foreign Office said it was providing consular services to both Ms Reid and her family.

British authorities are also understood to be helping Ms Connolly, who is an Irish citizen.

Ms Connolly had been at the centre of a Europe-wide missing persons search until news of her arrest broke at the weekend.

The 20-year-old photography student was looking for work as a dancer and hostess in Ibiza's resort of San Antonio. When she lost touch with family they launched an internet campaign to find her.

Both women are now facing potentially very serious sentences if found guilty, according to Ireland's recently retired consul general in Lima.

Michael Russell said Ms Reid and Ms Connolly could face up to a quarter of a century behind bars if convicted

ewan.fergus@ eveningtimes.co.uk