British women charged in Peru with drug trafficking

LIMA (Reuters) – Two British women have been charged in Peru with drug trafficking and could face up to 18 years in prison if convicted, prosecutors said. Michaella McCollum, of Dungannon in Northern Ireland, and Melissa Reid, from near Glasgow in Scotland, were arrested at Lima airport two weeks ago after 11 kg (24 lb) of cocaine worth 1.5 million pounds ($2.3 million) was found in their luggage, according to authorities. The women, both 20, had spent the summer working in bars on Ibiza, a Mediterranean island drawing 700,000 British holidaymakers each year. …