Original subtitles

I've got two suitcases stuffed full of cocaine.

I felt sick to my stomach.

I was wanted and was a fugitive.

I've got to get out.

Oh, God.

What have I done?

I was 23 years old.

I was living with my boyfriend.

We'd been together five years.

That probably was the first time that I'd really felt happy.

I was loved.

I was studying at Great Ormond Street Hospital for a paediatric nursing

It's one of the top hospitals in the world for children.

And to be there and be doing a good job to help those people get through that,

it was rewarding.

And one day... What's this?

He said he was moving out.

He just said, I don't want to be with you anymore.

And that was it.

Five years. Over.

Why?

No explanation.

I felt like someone had ripped out half of my heart.

It was my end of the two -year exams and assessments.

And I couldn't concentrate on my studies.

All I could think about was why he'd left.

I needed something to take my mind off what was going on.

I should have done something productive or good or life -enhancing.

not go in search for drugs.

But unfortunately, that's what I did.

I asked someone who lived near me if they knew anyone.

You might be able to get some speed.

I knew it kept you up.

I thought I could just get my essays done.

If you're looking to stay awake all night, I can get you something that'll

that.

Someone came round and showed me the stuff.

Just like taking speed.

It was crack cocaine.

I didn't really know that much about it.

Yeah, I have one.

The dealer left.

And she showed me what to do.

And I didn't feel anything.

Must be Dale. She said, maybe you need to try it again.

Then I did feel something.

And I felt that craving for it.

You want more and more and more.

No matter how much you've had.

And by a week, I was addicted.

I'd turn up to work late, tired.

I got kicked off the course.

I just was a mess.

All I could think about was getting money for more drugs.

Within a year, I was a different person.

I hated the fact that I'd fallen foul of this and that I was addicted.

I'd borrowed so much money. I was in so much debt.

I just couldn't see.

A way out of it.

I just need some money.

It's like a big injection of cash.

I want to finish my nursing course.

Help my debt.

Get out of this situation.

The drug dealer said he could go away from me.

I get paid for it. And I was like, well, what do I have to do for that?

Just bring something back.

What am I bringing back?

Well, coke.

No.

And I just said no.

Nowhere. I'm not doing that.

And he tried to persuade me. It's organized.

No.

No, no, no, no.

Easy. You won't have to touch any drugs.

No.

You just pick up the cases, bring them back on the plane, you will get five

grand per case.

I wasn't thinking straight.

I was wanting a solution to a big problem. Come on.

And I wanted it very quickly.

You love the money.

You can pay off your debt.

This is my chance.

To go back to studying and start afresh.

Yeah, yeah.

I'll do it then.

I thought, Two weeks, that's it, I'll be back.

I'll have the money and I can forget about all of this.

The plane was 14 hours to Buenos Aires.

I got in a taxi and gave them the address of the hotel that I was staying

I didn't know if I was going to be staying in that same hotel the whole two

weeks.

I didn't know how I was going to get the drug.

And that kind of worried me a bit.

The address was written down right and the booking was made.

I thought maybe it's all going to be all right.

I was told that I had to wait until the phone rang before I went anywhere.

I'm quite impatient.

I want to go out and see stuff.

So I went out.

I was relaxing, just having a look around the city.

And the phone rings.

Hello? The drug dealer said, where are you?

In Buenos Aires.

No, no, no.

You've got to go to Cusco. I said, Cusco?

Cusco is in Peru.

Oh, yeah, whatever.

Doesn't matter about that. I said, well, it does.

I am in Argentina.

So they were getting a bit shirty with me, and I got a bit shirty back.

You never said that I would have to get on another plane.

To a different country before I got the stuff.

Oh, shut up. You shouldn't be talking about this over the phone.

Just pick the cases up and bring them back on the plane.

I had no choice.

Wait. That was the only thing that I could see I could do.

Yeah. Nine.

Now that I had to fly to a different country.

I'm a bit worried about how the rest of it is going to go.

I met up with the couple in the square in Costco.

And they took me to their hotel room.

They took my things out of my case and put them in their cases.

I didn't see any drugs.

They didn't tell me where it was.

They just gave me them and took my case.

I've got two suitcases that are stuffed full of coke.

I came with one suitcase, and I'm going to be getting back on a plane with these

two massive big suitcases.

I thought, this is going to look dodgy.

I put my stuff into the two suitcases, spread it out, but

they look too empty.

This isn't going to work.

So I put my things in the small case and then put the little smaller case into

the big case.

And I just, I left it like that.

I started to feel scared then.

The reality of it was sinking in.

I've got a suitcase full of drugs.

I thought that if I'm going to get caught, this is the time that I'll get

in the airport in Lima.

I just thought, God, how am I going to get away with this?

I was looking at the case.

It's got a little case inside it.

And that will come up on the next row.

I wonder why.

I thought, I've just got to get on the plane now.

I've just got to do it, get through it.

I was just running on adrenaline.

They said people are in on it.

They just let you through.

I just kept telling myself that I've decided to do this for a reason.

I'm going to get back to England, give them the cases, get the money,

just get on with my life.

They told me that they'd found a new way to put it in the suitcase so that it

wasn't detectable when it went through customs.

And they said, you're not going to get stopped.

I don't know if what they said is true.

And nothing happened.

I kind of thought, God, I've done it.

I came off the plane from Lima.

I thought I was going to get on a flight straight to London from Buenos Aires.

I got a call.

Hello. I had to get on a flight.

that stopped off in Paris.

I don't feel comfortable getting on that flight.

I didn't want to get on a stopover.

That was another risk of being caught.

I'm not getting on a flight that stops over somewhere else.

I decided to miss that flight.

I felt confident that they would offer me another option to get home.

I still had the drugs.

They weren't going to leave me stranded in Buenos Aires.

That's what I was hoping on, anyway.

Hello?

The drug dealer asked why I didn't get on the flight.

What do I think I'm playing at? Why am I messing them around?

Why don't you book me on a flight for tomorrow?

No, no, you've got to be finished today.

We'll meet you at Heathrow today.

I don't think they've got much choice.

They were heavy people, you know.

Can you imagine what would happen to me if I got back to London with no drug?

I might as well have been dead.

I clucked the courage up to go through with it.

I'd got on one plane from Peru.

There was no problems.

15 hours and I would be there.

They'd take the case and I'd have the money.

The end was in sight.

A woman tapped me on the shoulder.

I just thought, how does she know my name?

My heart was pounding in my chest.

I felt sick to my stomach.

Come with me.

I've been caught and God knows what's going to happen to me.

There were three other people in the back room.

She put my cake on top of the table.

I knew what was inside the cake, but I hadn't been confronted with the reality

of it.

When she got the coke out, it was the realization of

the severity of it.

Do you know what this is?

I said, yeah.

What?

Cocaine. You're under arrest.

I don't understand.

Queda detenida por tráfico de droga.

I was just in shock. Comunicarte con un abogado.

I just thought, oh God, what have I done?

I asked if I could have some water.

And they were just laughing and saying no, no, no.

I thought, why have I done this to my family?

My sisters are going to be so upset.

My mum is going to be devastated.

I was ashamed.

I was ashamed of all of it.

I was very scared.

The next morning, a car comes to take me to the court.

A translator turns up.

You're being charged with conspiring to export cocaine.

I said conspiring.

What do you mean?

When they arrested you in the airport, they found drugs.

I was just carrying the cases.

She said it doesn't matter.

This is the law in Argentina.

The translator explains that he was a new judge.

He doesn't believe that Argentinian taxes should be spent on foreign

I wasn't being taken to a prison.

The judge has given you bail.

I was going to be let out until my trial.

I was so overwhelmed.

I didn't know how to feel.

I just felt sick.

I didn't know where I was going to stay or how I was going to get money.

I just wanted someone to help me.

I knew I had to tell someone what had happened.

Mum? I said, Mum, I've done something really, really stupid.

I've been caught trying to take, caught getting back to England.

Then she just went, oh, God.

Lucy, what have you done?

She kind of took it all in and she said, look.

We're going to help you.

We're going to do whatever we can.

No, it's better if you're there.

I knew that there was nothing she could do for me.

But I wanted to share it with someone else.

I'd been selfish in my career to smuggle drugs for money.

about if it had gone wrong, how it would have affected everyone else that I

knew.

I'd gone to stay in a hostel.

I signed at the court every week while I waited for my trial.

And I just stayed in a dorm at the hostel.

One, two, three.

I met a group of backpackers.

They really helped me to forget about the situation.

I was a person just like them, who wasn't in trouble.

Who was having a holiday, relaxing and having fun.

We'd come in late, and I went to one of their rooms instead of my room.

Then all of a sudden, we heard a noise.

I opened the door.

It was the police.

I couldn't believe it.

I've been relaxing, not thinking about my situation.

They went into my room.

They've come to take me back into prison.

I was really scared.

I'm going to have to do something.

I just thought, I've got to get out.

My heart was in my mouth.

I was then panicking.

I had no passport.

I had no way of getting money for me.

I was panicking about what I was going to do.

There might be police looking for me in Buenos Aires.

Argentina is a very big country.

If I got far away, I might be able to evade being caught.

My heart was beating fast.

I was shaking, full of adrenaline.

I was on autopilot, not knowing what was going to happen next.

I thought, From this point now, I'm going to be on my own.

I was wanted and was a fugitive.

My plan was to get out of Buenos Aires.

The authorities might think that I would go to a border that was close.

I decided to do the opposite.

Brazil was the furthest away.

It seemed like the best then.

Iguazu Falls is on the Argentinian side and on the Brazilian side.

There must be a lot of people going across to see the waterfall.

I thought that it would be very easy for me to kind of slip into that tourist

traffic.

I didn't have my passport.

I didn't know what to say.

They said no.

You need a police letter to say that it's been stolen or lost.

I couldn't report my passport lost.

They would take me into custody straight away.

And I thought, what am I going to do?

I looked for a local book going in the direction that I needed to go in.

And they just let me on.

They didn't ask me for a pen book.

I only had one way to get out of this. There was no other option.

Just going from small town to town with the local people on the local buses

I

got

on another local bus and bought a ticket All I thought about was

getting to Brazil

and then get into the British Embassy in Sao Paulo.

And if I did those things, then I was halfway back to England.

I could do my prison sentence in England and I'd be nearer my family and

friends.

I was scared.

I was scared the whole time.

I realised that I couldn't keep doing these small journeys.

I didn't have very much money left.

So I decided to hitch.

That was the only thing I could do.

Until I was at a point where I felt safe, I was just going to carry on

Someone was driving the very town just before you get to Iguazu Falls.

And I said, I had no money.

They said, fine.

I got there, deaf and sound.

I felt a sense of relief.

You could see the bridge that went across.

to the Brazilian side.

My plan was to get on a bus that was going over the bridge.

I was running on adrenaline.

There was an office where the bus was pulling into.

They were checking for passports.

I can't believe it.

I wouldn't be able to get on the bus.

So I just thought, well, I'll find the water and

cross.

I started to walk down where the shrubs and the rocks were, and it was getting

closer to the river.

Some of it was mud, kind of sandy, clayey mud.

I was trying to do it quick.

And I got down to the riverbank.

It's about... 600 yards across.

There was no choice.

I just did what I had to do.

I had to swim.

I didn't know what was in the water.

I didn't know if they had people patrolling the area or if someone was

maybe shoot at me.

There was no turning back.

I was scared.

I just felt exhausted.

But at the same time, I was kind of spurred on with adrenaline.

I was just thinking that when I come out the other side, I will be in Brazil.

I won't be in Argentina.

And this is me a step closer.

I'm getting back to England.

I feel glad that I've made it to the other side.

I just couldn't believe I've done it.

But still, I knew I had a long way to go.

I was tired.

I was hungry.

I didn't have much money.

Someone's going to ask me, what am I doing?

A guy came out from the back and kind of looked at me and

was like, well, where have you come from?

And I said, I'd lost my bag.

I need to get to Sao Paulo.

And they took pity on me, really.

I was in a bit of a tricky situation.

Without a passport, I couldn't get out of the country.

You had to have proof.

of your passport being stolen in order to get an emergency passport for the

British Embassy.

I knew that I had to get a police report.

I looked for the police station in that town.

I'm going to have to give my real name. I can't pretend to be someone else.

I knew that I ran the risk.

of being arrested if I walked into a police station and I came up as wanted

but I knew I couldn't get my passport to get back to England without doing this

I was

apprehensive I was nervous scared

And I said... My bag has been stolen with my passport.

And I needed a report to take to the British Embassy.

Get a passport so I can go home.

Then he went to speak to someone else.

And I thought, oh, God.

They've realised that in Argentina I'd skipped my bail.

They're going to arrest me and take me back to Buenos Aires and put me back in

prison.

That's it.

It's all finished.

And they've just...

Gave me the police report.

I couldn't believe it.

All I needed to do now was get to Sao Paulo.

The scales of the city hit me.

I was on my own.

I was a woman.

I was panicky a bit.

It was the last bit of the puzzle.

I needed to get to the British Embassy.

I just felt so drained from everything that had happened.

I thought there's two outcomes.

I'm either going to get on a plane or I'll be...

in a police car going back to prison.

I showed her the police report.

She filled in all the information, and then she went away.

I thought, she'll come back and say, we've realised that you're wanted in

Argentina.

I just thought, God, this is too much, I can't cope.

She said, wait for ten minutes.

Those ten minutes seemed to drag forever and ever.

At any moment, someone could find out I'll be in a police car going

back to prison.

Another guy.

came out and said,

here's the emergency passport.

That was my ticket back to England.

Oh, God, I've done it.

This is it. I'm going to the airport.

I haven't spoken to my mum.

since I left the hostel in Buenos Aires.

Mum, I'm at the airport in Brazil.

And she was like, oh, God, how did you manage that?

She couldn't believe that I'd managed to do that on my own.

I could have cried every day if I hadn't let the self -pity kind of wash over

me.

I just thought, oh, God, I'm nearly there.

Mum. I said... Mum, why don't you send me some money, then I can get on a

home.

So my mum sent me some money.

Going to get back to Bolton, going to see my family.

I love you.

Forget about all of this mess.

I go up.

To the desk.

And then he asked me... Where have you been since you got to Argentina?

When did you come into Brazil?

And I said, I can't remember.

My passport is lost.

It's stolen.

Yes, but when did you come into Brazil?

There is no record of your entry.

My heart, it went in my mouth.

And I started to panic.

Because I can't think what is the best answer to say that is going to make me

alright.

Where have you been since you got to Argentina?

They can see from my passport where I've been.

I could have been found out.

And I could have been sent back.

When did you come to Brazil?

And I say, I can't remember.

Maybe they didn't check.

Or they didn't stamp it.

And I thought, oh, God, this is it.

They've realised I'd skipped my bell and I'd be wanted.

Please just let me get on the flight.

That's it. It's all finished.

I felt like I was going to pass out.

And they let me go.

I was on my way back to England.

When I got back to England, I just was so relieved.

I'd assumed that I would get punished and do my sentence here.

If I was wanted, then I wanted to go and hand myself in.

So I went to the nearest police station.

I said, I've just come back from Argentina.

And I think I might be wanted here.

And he put my name in.

And he said, you know.

There's nothing coming up in the system here.

I'd go about your business if I were you.

When I wasn't wanted here, I just thought, well, that's it.

I'm free.

I'm going to make a fresh start.

Spend more time with my family.

It was nice to be back. Hi, Mum.

I always knew that my mum loved me.

And now this felt like it had brought us closer together.

I know I made a stupid mistake.

I've learnt my lesson.

I have to use it to change my life and make myself get on the right track.

Two years later, in 2009,

I was driving in my car.

This car just pulled up and blocked my path.

And I thought, what is this person doing?

Get out of the car! Get out of the car!

And they were shouting, step out of the car, get out of the car.

And I had no idea what was going on.

They said, you're wanted on an international warrant from Argentina for

exploitation of a controlled weapon.

I couldn't really speak.

I was in shock.

One of the police officers said, mate, it's okay, you can relax now.

You don't need to keep running and hiding.

I haven't been running and hiding.

I didn't hide from anyone.

I'd forgotten all about this.

I was living my life.

I don't know how it's going to turn out. The extremes of the outcomes are so

massive.

I can't... There's nothing I can do to try and make myself feel better about it

because I don't know how it's going to turn out.