Ibiza Mules

It would be very easy to say 'here we go again' as a couple of young women have once again found themselves caught up in the illegal drugs trade in foreign climes. This time in Ibiza. Just how are we, the general public, to know whether to rally to their defense or leave them to reap what they have sowed. Just how do we decide if these ladies were plain foolish, to young to be let loose in the wide world, very naive and somewhat immature for their ages, (early 20's), or know exactly what they were doing but never thought it wouldn't happen to them, they wouldn't get caught, their plan was foolproof. 

The girls claim they were kidnapped and forced at gunpoint to take this trip to Peru to smuggle drugs. Now, I can't claim that if this had happened to me I wouldn't have at least tried to escape or leave clues or smuggle messages to people I came into contact with on my trip, because you don't know how you would act until it does happen to you. I find it difficult to think that I would be on a plane, stay in a hotel, take sightseeing trips as the girls say they did, without finding a way to bring to the attention of anyone, my predicament. It would cross my mind, even as a 20 year old, that if someone with a gun was threatening to harm my family if I did not do what they wanted, that this same unscrupulous person might also kill me in the near future, without much thought. What, therefore, would I have to loose by drawing attention to my plight. It is very easy for me sitting here in the comfort of my lounge, to imagine all the possible ways I could have done this. 

Handing a note to a waiter when I paid for a drink or meal. Casually leaving a bag or jacket with a note in the pocket asking for help - get the police. At least talking to another English speaking tourist on a sightseeing trip giving them enough information to back up any future claims I made should I get caught by the police. The possibilities seem endless - from the comfort of my lounge.

Although it is difficult to imagine that these two young ladies had not seen recent news regarding other drug smuggling men, women and young girls getting caught, shipped off to inhospitable prisons, trials being held in non-English speaking Courts, it is plausible to imagine yet another two young women being foolish enough to think that they look plausible enough to not get caught and to be swept up in the moment.

This in itself posses the question, should they fess-up their crime, plead youth, naivety, sorrow at their foolishness and hope that the Court will be lenient or try to lie their way out and continue to plead their ignorance of the crime right to the moment the cell door clangs shut. The thought of many years behind bars in a very foreign (culture) prison would possibly have made me react differently to the girls. But who really knows......

Read the headlines  here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23737272