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Canadian Cocaine Smugglers Plead Guilty To Roles In Failed Cruise Ship Import

Canadian Cocaine Smugglers Plead Guilty To Roles In Failed Cruise Ship Import

Melina Roberge, 23, and Andre Tamine, 64, had initially denied their involvement in the import of the drugs on the MS Sea Princess in 2016.

Paddy Maddison

Paddy Maddison

Two Canadians have pleaded guilty to their role in smuggling 95kg of cocaine into Australia on a cruise liner.

Melina Roberge, 23, and Andre Tamine, 64, had initially denied their involvement in the import of the drugs on the MS Sea Princess in 2016.

However, the pair have now changed their pleas ahead of a trial due to start this week, Australian media reports.

Australian Border Force

A third Canadian, 29-year-old Isabelle Lagacé, a former porn star, was sentenced to seven and a half years in jail in November for her part in the crime.

"It pains me to know my most defining years of womanhood will be spent in jail. I feel remorse and anger at myself about being involved with people who are part of a dirty, dirty drug trade," Lagacé said in an affidavit, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Izabelle Lagace/Facebook

The cocaine that the trio attempted to bring into the country had an estimated street value of A$21m (£12m; $17m), according to authorities, making it the largest seizure of its kind to take place on a passenger boat in Australia.

On social media, Roberge and Lagacé had posted images of themselves enjoying a seven-week holiday on the cruise from Southampton.

But when the boat docked in Sydney, police sniffer dogs rooted out 35kg of cocaine from the pair's shared cabin.

A further 60kg was discovered in Tamine's cabin.

It wasn't clear how they and Tamine were connected, local media reported, but authorities have linked them to a 'well-organised syndicate'.

According to the Daily Mail, a former boyfriend described Roberge as a 'superficial woman always turned on by money and on the look-out for a sugar daddy'.

"Melina was lovely and attractive, but she wanted money and people who had money.

"It was all about money with her and she was dating older men too because they had the cars and the power to give her the lifestyle she wanted badly.

"She just wanted the best things but as far as I knew she never worked for them and had a steady job.

Instagram/Melina Roberge

"She would go clubbing and I know she was dating other guys. We went out for a month and then she just disappeared. We hooked up again two years ago, but we had moved on.

"But she was still into having it all and having it now. She was into champagne and parties. She just never stopped."

All three have been charged with importing a commercial quantity of cocaine, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of life in behind bars.

Featured Image Credit: Instagram/Melina Roberge

Topics: World News, News, Cocaine, crime, Drugs, Australia