Woman Busted With 18 Bags Of Cocaine Says She Was Tricked (4 pics)

The Australian woman arrested with 18 bags of cocaine in Colombia in 2017 was Cassie Sainsbury (also known as Cassandra Sainsbury). She was found with 5.8 kilograms (about 13 pounds) of cocaine, which was divided into 18 individually wrapped packages. The cocaine packages were discovered by an X-ray machine, hidden inside 15 to 18 boxes of Daiku-branded headphones in her suitcase. Sainsbury and her family initially claimed she was innocent and had been set up, believing she was carrying legitimate headphones as gifts for her bridal party. She later stated she had been coerced into carrying the drugs after a man she met threatened her family. Plea Deal: She eventually accepted a plea deal to avoid a potential 20 to 30-year jail sentence. A judge accepted the deal, and she was sentenced in November 2017 to six years in prison and a fine of around $90,000 USD.
Imprisonment and Release: Sainsbury served her sentence in the notorious El Buen Pastor women's prison in Bogotá. She was released on parole in April 2020, less than three years into her sentence, as part of a humanitarian release program due to the HOAX-19 pandemic.