Woman smuggled record amount of cocaine because ‘she wanted social media likes’

A woman who tried to smuggle a record amount of cocaine into Australia has claimed she did it to get likes on social media.

Mélina Roberge, 24, attempted to traffic 29 kilograms of the drug into Sydney off a luxury cruise ship called the MS Sea Princess in 2016.

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But she was caught along with her accomplices Isabelle Lagace, 30, and Andre Tamine, 64, and later pleaded guilty to the crime.

The Canadian women were nicknamed ‘cocaine babes’ at the time.

In total the group tried to smuggle 95kg of coke, which authorities said was the most anyone had tried to get through a seaport or air.

The haul was worth $20 million AUD (£10.8m).

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Image of the ?17.5m (35kg of cocaine) stashed in a suitcase hidden in their cabin - Two Canadians have pleaded guilty to smuggling cocaine into Sydney, Australia on a cruise ship. Melina Roberge, 23, and Andre Tamine, 64, had initially denied their roles in the import of 95kg (210lb) of drugs on the MS Sea Princess in 2016. But they changed their pleas ahead of a trial that was due to start this week, Australian media reported. A third Canadian, 29-year-old Isabelle Lagac?, was sentenced to jail in November over her part in the crime. According to authorities, the cocaine had an estimated street value of A$21m (?12m; $17m), making it the largest seizure of its kind on a passenger boat in Australia. On social media, Roberge and Lagac? had posted images of themselves enjoying what appeared to be a seven-week holiday on a cruise from Southampton. But when the ship docked in Sydney, police sniffer dogs found 35kg of cocaine inside their shared cabin. A further 60kg was discovered in Tamine's cabin.passengers — Image of the 35kg of cocaine (Picture: Universal News And Sport (Europe))

Roberge claimed in court on Wednesday an unnamed ‘sugar daddy’ was the real mastermind behind it all and had agreed to send her and Lagace to several places across the world, including New York, French Polynesia and Australia.

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She added she had gone through with the plan after she met the man in Morocco because she wanted to get more likes on social media and felt taking pictures in the tropical locations would help achieve this.

Roberge, from Quebec, Canada, said during the sentencing hearing: ‘I was meant to just be there and look like I was on holiday and look like a cover for everyone else.’

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