Drugs mule Melissa Reid set to return to Scotland

Melissa Reid and her father William Reid, before boarding a flight in Lima. Picture: AP

The 22-year-old appeared to be smiling as she was escorted through Lima Airport on Tuesday evening alongside her father by officials overseeing her deportation.

Reid, from Lenzie, East Dunbartonshire, was caught with 23-year-old Michaella McCollum, from Dungannon, Co Tyrone, trying to smuggle cocaine worth £1.5 million from Peru to Spain in 2013.

The pair - nicknamed the “Peru Two” - were jailed for six years and eight months after admitting the offence.

However, in May a judge granted Reid’s expulsion early under a scheme for deporting foreign inmates. It is understood she will return to Britain a free woman, travelling back to Scotland via a European airport.

McCollum was freed in March under new legislation but was required to remain on parole in Peru.

The pair were caught at Lima Airport on August 6 2013 trying to board a flight with 24lb (11kg) of cocaine in food packets hidden in their luggage.

They claimed they were forced into carrying the drugs, but pleaded guilty to the charges.

McCollum and Reid faced the prospect of a maximum 15-year prison term but struck a behind-closed-doors plea bargain to secure the shorter sentence.

Reid’s father, Billy, has previously said the impact of his daughter’s crime on his family had been ‘’horrendous’’ and spoke out in a video warning of the consequences of drug offences abroad.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said: “We continue to provide assistance to Melissa Reid and remain in contact with her family and local authorities.”

A Scottish Prison Service spokeswoman said it was not involved in Reid’s case and could not comment on any arrangements for her return to the UK.

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