Peru Two drugs mule Michaella McCollum returns to Ireland
She is said to have reached a deal with the authorities that will let her see out her terms of parole in her home country
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Louise Thomas
Editor
Michaella McCollum, one of two women arrested in Peru for attempting to smuggle cocaine across borders, has returned home after serving a third of a prison sentence.
McCollum, 23, was released from Peruvian prison four years early after reportedly making a deal with authorities that would enable her to see out the terms of her parole in in her home country Ireland.
Footage shows the ex-convict arriving at Dublin airport on a connecting flight from London three months after her release from a notorious Peruvian prison, Ancon Two, in March.
She can be seen walking through the airport with two bags and avoiding attention from the public and the media.
McCollum was arrested in August 2013 along with Melissa Reid after the pair tried to smuggle cocaine worth £1.5 million in their luggage on a flight from Peru to Spain.
The women, nicknamed the "Peru two", initially claimed they were abducted, held at gunpoint, and forced to board a flight with 24lb of cocaine hidden in their luggage.
But they later pleaded guilty in a Peruvian court and were sentenced to six years and eight months in prison.
McCollum has returned after serving two years and three months of her sentence, but will be expected to see out the terms of her parole - although it is not clear how.
In the months in between her release and her return to the UK McCollum was reportedly seen spotted dining out, partying in night clubs and working out at a gym in Lima, the capital of Peru.
Her fellow convict Reid returned to the UK in June after a judge granted her expulsion under an early release scheme for deporting first-time drug offenders.
She too is serving the rest of her sentence on parole, but without the strict terms attached to McCollum.
Following her release in April McCollum said she had acted in a "moment of madness" when she decided to smuggle cocaine across borders.
According to the UK Government there are more than 30 Britons currently serving prison sentences for drug offences in Peru.
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