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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Ryan Fahey

Woman, 19, facing execution by firing squad gives desperate explanation for drugs in bag

The teen girl facing a cruel death for smuggling 3kg of cocaine into Indonesia claims she was tricked into carrying the massive package by people she trusted.

Brazilian national Manuela Araujo, 19, who sells lingerie and perfume for a living, was caught with the enormous haul as she flew into Bali.

Her lawyer Davi Lira da Silva claims the young woman was living between her mother and father's homes in Brazil, but was tricked by a local gang she knew who told her to visit Bali for its temples, where people pray for the sick to be healed.

She was seeking Buddhist prayers for a cure after her mum suffered a stroke.

These men also offered to pay for surfing lessons when she arrived in the country, a sport she was passionate about.

She could be executed by firing squad under Indonesia's harsh drug laws (Newsflash)

Prosecutors in the country, which is notorious for its medieval drug laws, are demanding the maximum penalty - death by firing squad. She could also received the less ultimate punishment of life in prison.

Her family meanwhile announced that they have set up a crowdfunding campaign to try and pay for an expert in international law to get involved in the case.

She was arrested in Indonesia at Bali International Airport with the three kilogrammes of cocaine in her luggage after passing through airports in Brazil and Qatar.

The case was adjourned for the sentences to be announced later this month.

She has been in custody for the past three months (Newsflash)

Investigations are reportedly ongoing into the people she claims handed her the drugs.

At the end of March, a model previously jailed for attempting to smuggle £1 million of heroin into Ireland has shared the “horrors” she experienced behind bars.

Tereza Hluskova was seized by customs officials in Pakistan’s AIIama IqbaI International airport in January 2018 in possession of 8.5kg of heroin.

Manuela signs a document while being processed at a jail in Bali (Newsflash)

In 2019, the model was sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison, but was released in 2022 after a series of appeals.

She claimed she went to Pakistan to work as a model, where the narcotics were placed in her suitcase, against her knowledge.

She has now decided to 'let people know what really happened'.

Hluskova has since released four videos explaining how she ended up in Pakistan, and describing the 'horrors she went through'.

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