Michaella McCollum hit the headlines and became a household name for all the wrong reasons back in 2013.
The then 19-year-old from Co Tyrone, along with Melissa Reid from Scotland, were in Ibiza when they were offered £5,000 to transport class A drugs.
12 years on, the now mother-of-two has signed up to be one of 14 celebs taking part in the new series of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Win airing on Channel 4 this weekend.
Since her release in 2016, Michaella has transitioned into a career as a public speaker where she delivers motivational talks about personal transformation, overcoming adversity, and the dangers of coercion.
Michaella McCollum and Melissa Reid became infamous household names when they were arrested in Peru after their luggage was found to contain 12 kg of cocaine.
They had flown from Ibiza and initially claimed they had been coerced by an armed gang.
After pleading guilty, the pair were sentenced to six years and eight months’ imprisonment in December 2013.
In early 2016, both women sought to return to the United Kingdom, with Michaela applying to be freed on parole before being released on 31 March 2016, with the prospect of having to remain in Peru for up to six years.
Michaella and Melissa were apprehended at Jorge Chávez International Airport in Peru on 6 August 2013, with 11kg of cocaine concealed in cereal packets in their suitcases, valued at nearly €2million.
Michaella was sentenced to six years and eight months in a Peruvian prison in December 2014 but was released on parole after two years and three months in March 2016 – Melissa was also released in June of the same year, reports the Scottish Daily Express.
She was initially sent to the notorious Virgen de Fatima prison in Lima while awaiting her trial before being transferred to Ancon 2 prison.
In a memoir, she described witnessing numerous instances of lesbian sex occurring right in front of her. During her time in prison, Michaella enrolled in a beauty therapy course with the aim of becoming a hairstylist.
In a docuseries released in 2022, Michaella recounted her ordeal, providing extensive interviews and narration.
High: Confessions of an Ibiza Drug Mule traced the story of the former drug trafficker and how she transformed from a “regular kid” from Co Tyrone to a cartel drug courier in a maximum security prison in South America.
Speaking on Good Morning Britian earlier this year, she explained that her trip to Ibiza was her first time leaving the UK/
“I had no friends, I went completely alone. I didn’t know anybody there. Within two weeks I started making friendships and relationships, and I made a friendship with this group of people that ended up luring me into trafficking drugs.”
Host Susanna Reid asked: “When you saying luring you into, what did they do?”
Michaella replied: “Well, the initial friendship, everybody in Ibiza at that time was consuming a lot of drugs, I as well was consuming a lot of drugs, drinking a lot of alcohol. I had this safe group of people… they didn’t take drugs, they didn’t take alcohol, so I was inclined to spend more time with them and I guess I trusted them because.. they didn’t party, they didn’t do anything.”
She added: “These organisations, they have people that are pickers, and their job mainly is to pick people to become mules. They will target their vulnerabilities. Their vulnerabilities might be their age because at 19, 20, you are incredibly naïve, you are easy to manipulate.”
She was offered £5,000 to smuggle drugs.
Michaella added: “You have to understand that the level of manipulation that goes in behind this, it’s not just overnight, it’s probably weeks of manipulation.
“They ended up making me believe that this was totally fine, I was being dramatic, I was being naïve to question…
“They were like… ‘Everybody does this, this is fine, we work with the police, we work with everybody in the airport, you are being dramatic… you’ve never done this, you’ve never left the country.”
Michaella believed she would have to carry one package but when she arrived in Peru, she was told that she would have to smuggle 16 packages in her case.
“I had no clothes because I came from Ibiza, Peru was very cold, I had maybe 8, maybe 7 items of clothing, they told me to wrap it. I didn’t have enough items of clothes, I didn’t have enough space in my suitcase, and I was just like, ‘What am I supposed to do? Do I leave these drugs now and just go?’ You are under this fear of what to do.”
According to a spokesperson for Celebrity SAS, following her release, Michaella sought to rebuild her life in Northern Ireland, earning a degree in International Business Management from Ulster University in 2023.
“She also found a new passion for fitness, using it as a tool to reclaim control over her life. In 2021, Michaella published her memoir You’ll Never See Daylight Again.
“Her experiences, both in prison and in navigating the challenges that followed, have made her a sought-after speaker for law enforcement and community groups.
“Now a mother of twin boys, Michaella is determined to lead by example and teach her children that no mistake defines you, and that the path to redemption and personal growth can be a long and challenging one, but it is possible.”
