Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Telly addicts

Related: Film discussion forum.

Original poster

HIGH: Confessions of an Ibiza drug mule. BBC

54 replies

Coconutscrub · 15/07/2021 12:19

Has anyone seen this? I was hooked - the whole story is fascinating!

“ In 2013, Michaella McCollum from Northern Ireland and Melissa Reid from Scotland were caught at the Jorge Chavez International Airport in Peru trying to smuggle £1.5 million of cocaine into Spain. The pair, also known as the `Peru Two,' were sentenced to almost seven years in one of the most notorious prisons in the world. The series provides a first-hand account from Michaella, a former club hostess in the Spanish nightlife, as she traces her journey from arriving in the foreign country for her first holiday to her downward spiral into the illicit world of drugs and excess.”

OP posts:
mibbelucieachwell · 15/07/2021 12:43

I was hooked too. Fascinating. What did you think of the NI woman?

AngryMuppet · 15/07/2021 12:46

I have! I agree it was fascinating but I thought Michaella was very self-serving all the way through. Not sure what I thought about the whole "lmao you won't believe what I did" vibe but I was gripped the whole way through.

MotionActivatedDog · 15/07/2021 12:46

Take it all with a pinch of salt. She’s utterly fame hungry and out to make her fortune so she’ll say whatever sells her.

Mumdiva99 · 15/07/2021 12:47

I started it but haven't watched it all. I was a little put off because she was only in Ibiza less than a month before doing this - but they were talking to her 'best friend' and about how much partying they did together and how well they knew each other. They hardly knew each other at all.....I felt the situations were elaborated quite a lot....similarly the man who was her boy friend swooped in really quickly....they hardly knew each other....why would she think that highly of him after so little time..... I guess that the warning - she was there alone and vulnerable...... I know I sound quite negative but I will probably go back and watch more anyway as I want to know what happens next......

whistlers · 15/07/2021 12:54

@mibbelucieachwell

I was hooked too. Fascinating. What did you think of the NI woman?
I liked her!
AngryMuppet · 15/07/2021 12:56

I started it but haven't watched it all. I was a little put off because she was only in Ibiza less than a month before doing this - but they were talking to her 'best friend' and about how much partying they did together and how well they knew each other.

That sort of rang true to me given that they were out every night and doing a lot of drugs.

I will say that I listened to a podcast about it which was only 45 minutes long and it painted a much better picture of how stupid Michaella was even before she decided to smuggle drugs. Eg she had no job lined up and seemed to think she could just walk into one despite being halfway through the Ibiza season already.

mistermagpie · 15/07/2021 13:06

I have only watched a bit of it but I actually know some of Melissa's family a little bit and I would be surprised if she was happy about this. From what I know she has tried to put the past behind her while the other one has tried to glamourise the whole think and is quite fame hungry.

It's a compelling story though!

ChocolateRiver · 15/07/2021 13:09

I’m going to see if I can find this. Sounds interesting

Nuggetnugget · 15/07/2021 13:15

I followed the whole story quite closely. She is fane hungry but its fascinating. I only caught one episode. Will watch them all.

twilightcafe · 15/07/2021 13:17

I was a bit Confused about how naive and daft she seemed to be. Not realising she was on her way to Peru until the plane took off? Confused

But I guess drugs gangs need people that dim to smuggle drugs back to Ibiza.

AngryMuppet · 15/07/2021 13:19

I was a bit confused about how naive and daft she seemed to be. Not realising she was on her way to Peru until the plane took off?

I wasn't sure if she was that dim or if that part was a total lie. Maybe I just have too much pride, I think I'd rather fess up to the international drug smuggling bit than say I didn't know where Peru was.

PutOnAHappyFace · 15/07/2021 13:23

I didn't really believe the naive young girl act and found her quite hard to warm to. I found she tried to pass the blame a lot and didn't just hold her hands up and accept what she had did was wrong.

Did really enjoy it though.

whistlers · 15/07/2021 13:28

@AngryMuppet

I was a bit confused about how naive and daft she seemed to be. Not realising she was on her way to Peru until the plane took off?

I wasn't sure if she was that dim or if that part was a total lie. Maybe I just have too much pride, I think I'd rather fess up to the international drug smuggling bit than say I didn't know where Peru was.

Tbf she didn't know where 'Lima' was a was apparently on acid when it was arranged
Lemonteanomilk · 15/07/2021 13:28

It's compelling to watch but I don't believe half of what this convicted criminal and self-confessed liar is saying.

Who could be so thick as to think Lima is in Spain and to only realise when she was on the flight to Peru?

She comes over as vacuous and fame-hungry. I hope the BBC didn't pay her.

whistlers · 15/07/2021 13:30

Jade goody thought East Angular was somewhere abroad and then there is this:

Whitney168 · 15/07/2021 13:51

I only watched snippets, but mostly came out with the impression that she probably is mostly glad it happened now, as it will have launched her to fame and stardom.

The saddest thing about it all is that she's probably right.

Lemonteanomilk · 15/07/2021 16:22

"I only watched snippets, but mostly came out with the impression that she probably is mostly glad it happened now, as it will have launched her to fame and stardom."

I'm not convinced she has the personality to sustain fame & stardom. That's partly to do with being dim but I also don't see any spark which would endear her to anyone, apart from her family.

Whitney168 · 15/07/2021 17:23

I don't disagree, Lemonteanomilk - I'm just not convinced that matters these days LOL.

MotionActivatedDog · 15/07/2021 17:26

If she had anything to offer in terms of fame & stardom she’d already be there because she absolutely wants it- but she doesn’t. That’s why she keeps having to do these “tell all” exposé type shows to keep her name out there. Thankfully that’s as far as she’s gotten.

ChequerBoard · 15/07/2021 17:50

I saw a couple of episodes of this and really didn't like it. Can't quite put my finger on why it but it felt 'off' to me. It was vey Channel 5 in terms of its production values and her story had more holes it in than Swiss cheese.

It seemed as if she was trying to paint herself as an innocent abroad rather than a drug taking party girl who tried to make herself some money illegally and failed dismally.

whistlers · 15/07/2021 17:53

I must be naive and easy to please because I didn't see all the bad that most PPs have!

Original poster
Coconutscrub · 15/07/2021 19:58

I was a bit torn! I couldn’t decide if she made a really bad decision due to being extremely naive or if she is actually a really good storyteller!! I found myself liking her in parts and remembering being 20 and ready for an adventure….BUT I definitely knew not to drug smuggle at 20!

I couldn’t believe she didn’t know she was going to South America either! Didn’t she need a visa?

The most fascinating part I thought was how she ended up being the prisoners delegate. What a story!!

I remember at the time thinking deserved jail, thinking about all the lives drugs ruin, there does need to be zero tolerance. But all in all, I’m glad she was released, as I don’t believe she would ever do anything like that again and had sincerely changed.

OP posts:
dayswithaY · 15/07/2021 20:34

I loved it as it was such an exciting fast paced bit of TV.

But, about one episode in I realised it is a massive work of fiction. I mean, obviously they went to prison etc but I just couldn't believe the series of mishaps that lead her to being a drug mule.

One of the Peruvian legal experts explained mules and they said there is a never ending supply of them, they never have to be coerced or forced, they do it willingly.

Just couldn't believe that a drug dealer in Ibiza has to groom an unsuspecting young girl, give her LSD then drag her off to a safe house so she can pick up his drugs in Peru. No way would he get a flaky young party girl to do something that important!

I think Michaella is definitely trying to portray herself as an innocent abroad, maybe trying to protect her family or reinvent herself as a victim. Either way, there are massive holes in her story.

I feel sorry for the other girl, Melissa as she never got to tell her side of the story and Michaella didn't talk about her in a positive way.

I also didn't understand how she walked out of a Peruvian jail looking like she'd been to a spa. A beauty salon in a prison?

Lemonteanomilk · 15/07/2021 22:01

"Just couldn't believe that a drug dealer in Ibiza has to groom an unsuspecting young girl, give her LSD then drag her off to a safe house so she can pick up his drugs in Peru. No way would he get a flaky young party girl to do something that important!"

I think it's the Peruvian prosector who explains how the cartels will set up some mules to get caught - while the police are arresting 2 young women with 12 kilos each (after a tip-off), there's another carrier with a lot more getting past them.

The cartels are a huge operation of course and like any business, will allow for some losses.

ohthatbloodycat · 15/07/2021 22:01

Daft, thick as shit mares. I cringe when I think of those cretins doing Machu Picchu.
I'm on the third episode. My sympathy levels were at zero when I first heard about this on the news, and they remain unchanged.
I would totally get it if it were some poverty-stricken girl on the Lima side. Coerced by gangs with promises of money and a better life.
These girls CHOSE to do this. Judging by the hair, lashes, veneers etc, Michaela's clearly doing alright out of her notoriety. Silly tart.