Original subtitles

(theme music)

- Yeah, I was the Crime Editor at the Sydney Morning Herald

when the arrests were made. I still remember the day.

The cruise ship docking in Sydney harbour

and the press release coming out from police

that two young women and a slightly older gentleman

had been picked up with 95 kilograms of cocaine

on board this cruise ship.

- This case jumped right out at me.

At the time, I was the Deputy Digital Editor for Maxim Magazine,

And Maxim Magazine has a special interest

in beautiful women in bikinis.

You know, we knew just based on Maxim's history as a magazine

that we were gonna get plenty of readers.

My instinct said, Yeah, you need to write something about this.

- Britain's tabloid press is both intensely moralizing

but also loves to show pictures of beautiful women

in not much clothing.

If you ask a news editor for the elements he wants in a story,

it would be this story.

- So we just started writing about it

and our readers couldn't get enough of this story.

- Once we got off, it was in the press,

it was absolutely everywhere, it was on TV,

all channels seemed to have it.

- Once we wrote one story,

readers just wanted to read more and more and more.

- Yeah, poor Dad.

I remember, um...

when I was able to put numbers on my "roster" they'd call,

like a line-up of phone numbers that you can have in prison.

I just decided to ring him and he's like,

"Now you gotta give me your passwords to Facebook

and Instagram and Snapchat, because it's not fine."

People were so mean.

- First of all, it'd attract attention

because they were young and good-looking,

and then second of all, it was of a way to laugh at them,

to kind of think of them as, I guess, vacuous or narcissistic.

- It was just bad comments, very degrading,

very, very degrading about, like, appearance first,

and these girls were looking for attention,

they were so stupid

'cause they were posting all of their journey...

- You know, they're calling my niece off, like they're calling her an idiot,

and like, a pretentious little fucking like Instagram twat or whatever.

- One of the problems in reporting news like this

is you're very aware that your audience, no matter how neutral you try to be,

is going to judge.

- People were really creative, actually, made me laugh.

People were like, don't read it, you're gonna be hurt and stuff,

but I thought that people were really creative.

Some were pretty funny, I must admit.

You gotta always laugh at yourself a little bit.

I remember a picture I posted. I was in the water in Tahiti

with the nice mountain and I was drinking a coconut water,

and the quote was like, coconut water detox,

and then people were like, "Oh now, you're gonna have the prison food detox."

And stuff like that, like being all stupid.

But yeah, I didn't expect much from Internet, you know?

It's alright.

- Like, the headlines were click bait.

They were embarrassing to read.

It looked very unprofessional at work reading some of these stories on my computer.

- I saw "Cocaine babes", I saw "Cocaine cuties" as well.

- Once one person calls them the Cocaine Babe,

then other people, editors would go,

"Oh, we need to call them Cocaine Babes 'cause that's what they are."

- You know, it's a photocopy of a photocopy of a story, which is normal.

It's not the first or last time that's gonna occur around the world,

but I'm not gonna throw everybody under the bus,

I mean, they're operating on limited information, which is fine,

and they have a story to write.

There's timelines, there's things you have to strike when the iron is hot.

This is the story of the day.

But what I saw firsthand was...

I wanna use the word perhaps, uh...

Lazy. That's all.

- I mean, the press were getting things wrong.

The press said that they were getting on at Southampton,

we never went to Southampton, we were in Dover.

We know they definitely got on in Dover.

- They did board the ship, the MS Sea Princess,

you can see it here, in Southampton, England.

- They had boarded the vessel in Southampton, England.

- There was good journalism

which did a lot of researches

and did a pretty good job.

But most of them really rushed articles, I feel,

and they didn't really do research.

There was a lot of mistakes about, for example,

it was Melina's photo with my name underneath it.

- 23-year-old Melina Roberge has pleaded guilty

after being caught with 95 kilograms of cocaine.

- I feel like they did very much get covered like basically one person,

one bad girl, so to speak.

- I know that there was many stories calling her a porn star.

That's all we kind of heard for a long time.

- I felt like it wasn't even about the story no more,

it was about us being escorts.

- I mean, I did one sexy photo shoot, I was 19 years old.

They took the photos and just made it out to be that I was--

That was my career, you know?

So when I was 19, um,

a friend of the family was a photograph

and she was working on a project

and she needed models.

So I wasn't aware of the impact that such photos would have,

and I didn't expect to become

"famous-infamous" in that sense.

So, I was fine with my body, I was fine with nudity,

it's beautiful photos.

But I didn't think I would regret it as much as, um,

I regretted it when I got arrested.

Because it was used on a porn site

and also overused afterwards,

people could save the photos for themselves

then share it on other porn sites.

So it ended up on porn sites,

but I'm not a porn star, or porn model,

it was just a young girl who decided to do a nice photo shoot,

and then it just went... You know.

- I think the coverage of André's story was so interesting.

He had more drugs, they were worth more,

yet there's no attention of his photos on the beaches,

or him in his swimsuit.

- Yeah, he was paid more money,

he did have more drugs with him.

But we just never hear about him,

because he didn't take photos and put them up on Instagram.

- So I don't know a lot about him.

Obviously, the report intended to focus on the two extremely attractive women,

as opposed to the 64-year-old man.

- Um...

He's not as sexy.

He's not as... He's not as interesting.

64-year-old man gets done for--

Gets convicted for drug smuggling...

The stories of the two ladies, that's...

That's just the way British tabloid media works.

- Hmm, of course, he didn't have, like, bikini shots on the beach in Tahiti.

So he was less enticing for them.

Like... less...

It was easier to make stories about us,

because we were more active on the socials, I guess.

They did what they could to just sell clicks,

and it was the story so I think they wanted to...

get the story out quick

and just didn't really research anything.

And yeah.

- Looking at it from their point of view, I don't blame them

if they feel a little salty about the kind of coverage they got.

Either from my publication, or the publication where I was at at the time,

or any newspaper coverage.

- I can only use the information I'm presented with.

If an Australian media outlet is saying they...

They engaged in sex work,

you know,

with hindsight, I'd like to have checked that up,

would I have had the time? 'Cause you know,

it's high turnover news these days.

But there is a salacious aspect to that sometimes,

made it a little bit hard to look in the mirror.

- You can't quantify or qualify how it hurts.

But you would have to be born yesterday

to think that it doesn't.

Right? And just because you can't quantify or qualify something

doesn't mean that it's not apparent.

And it certainly was apparent.

- She wanted to be the envy of others.

I doubt she is now.

- The first move was to develop a strategy

and get the brief of evidence.

The evidence was prima facie.

It was illicit substances in the room,

with their names on the manifest with control.

- It's a pretty hard case to argue

when there's large amounts of cocaine inside your cruise ship cabin.

- There was no way that I would win in a trial.

- They had done the crime,

so they're always gonna be sent to jail.

- But when you plead guilty early, you get a discount.

- So in Australia, if you plead guilty,

you usually get a discount on your sentence.

And usually it's 25 %.

To kind of unclog the court system,

otherwise, everyone would just go,

"Even if I know I did it, I'll take a chance."

(laughing)

- Aw, poor Alex.

He really thought like Australia was like a third-world country or something,

I could just run away and... I don't know.

- Yeah, Louis was... really wary of that in the beginning.

Before they called it a committal.

She was already a bit weird, you know, in the wing,

like avoiding me, being very evasive

about her meetings with her lawyer,

not really opening up to me,

and I was like, that's weird, you know,

because I was always like, You need help? You need anything?

We're sticking together,

we gotta have the same story, blah blah blah.

But yeah, at committal, it was such a betrayal.

Yeah, I felt betrayed.

- It was quite the moment, if you will.

- Our legal teams were just

presenting our intention of plea in front of the judge.

And there was André, Melina and I.

And Louis spoke first.

Said that I was showing intention of pleading guilty.

Then it was her lawyer, and I remember she sat...

- There was a legal opening for the co-defendant, Melina,

that their lawyer used.

From a legal strategy point of view, rightly so.

Isabelle, when the border patrol officers came in,

stated that, "That's my bag."

- They asked if it was my bed, I said yes,

and they asked if it was my luggage and I said yes.

- That was the bag that ultimately contained the cocaine.

With that,

and because we were pleading guilty very early,

there was an opening, strategically speaking,

to allow the other co-defendant who was in the room with her,

to state that, Hey, why do I have a case to answer for

because she clearly states that that's her bag,

and she's pleading guilty to this?

(soft music)

- Broke her heart.

She felt heartbroken.

- These women were frightened, they were in a foreign country,

facing serious jail time. Melina, I'm sure, was scared.

- 28-year-old Isabelle Lagacé pleaded guilty to cocaine trafficking,

two other Quebecers are also accused in the case,

they have pleaded not guilty.

- I wished that she would've just told me.

As a 22-year-old

that wanted to go back to her life

and be with her family, I totally understand, I get that.

I understand, you know?

She's young, she wants to get out.

But you won't get out, you know?

I put myself in that situation, you know?

Okay, I met bad people and they offered me this,

but I also wanted the money

and I knew exactly what I was getting myself into.

Not... 100 % knowing,

but I knew that I was going to do something illegal.

And you know, you don't do the crime

if you can't do the time,

it's super cliché but that's really it.

- This was really a decision that she made,

and she was willing to face the penalties of that decision.

And... you have to respect that.

(birds chirping)

- Ooh, I don't think I slept a lot the night before.

It was a pretty big day too.

They get you up at like 4:00 A.M.

You can put normal clothes on.

Then when they call you and they bring you up, ugh,

it's just nerve-wracking.

(soft music)

Everything happened so fast and...

I didn't understand that she was saying it, you know?

I was really afraid I would get--

You know, I was facing 25 years and then she said,

with a non-parole period of four and a half years,

and I was... so happy.

I thought to myself, this is a win for me,

and it's a win because I didn't drop names,

and I still have four and a half years

and I have a life after that. You know?

- We were all quite pleased with that outcome.

You're not the orchestrator of, and that was shown at court,

you're not the orchestrator of anything.

I would imagine the vast financial benefit is not yours,

you're really a pawn in a chessboard

that's disposable.

These people who were involved in this were really,

without a doubt,

disposable at every junction, it seemed like.

- Silence, please, all stand.

- Melina Roberge,

you are sentenced to a term of imprisonment

for eight years.

- The young escort was recruited by a man

referred to in court as the "Sugar Daddy"

to draw attention away from the drug mules,

look glamourous and post Instagram photos of her voyage.

- It is sad that a 22-year-old was prepared

to be involved in the importation of cocaine

so she could post glamourous photos of herself

on social media and get likes.

- I think she was kind of obligated to say to anyone

who was listening or reading,

if you think that you can get a free holiday

and take Instagram photos and just not think about

what's in that bag under the bed,

you should think again.

- Like, in his case, if someone pleads guilty

to what they've been charged with,

we don't go through the whole trial process,

so we don't get to hear from...

witnesses, we don't really get to hear the police evidence in full,

and we don't get a lot of explanation

as to how this happened, why did this happen

and how did we end up here.

It does leave you asking a lot of questions.

You know, I talk about these two women being drug mules,

and being picked up and now arrested

and spending 8 years in jail, but these drug organizations,

they don't think anything of that.

They immediately would've been finding two other women or men

or other mules.

- It is rare that you get the Mr. Big.

You know, the man who really organizes it.

That's... That's a bit of a rarity catching such a person.

Most of the people before the courts are small-time users

and small-time dealers.

And the people that come in from overseas,

carrying quantities of drugs on them.

- Prison is another planet.

The first thing you realize when you go into a prison

is that when you're past that... (buzzing)

And the door opens, clang, and you walk in,

it's the prisoners who run the prison.

- I would've paid millions to be free.

I just wanted out.

I wanted to do whatever I want whenever I want.

Not to have to put it on a request form,

to ask permission to breathe, you know?

- It's military, like, you wake up when they want you to wake up,

you are locked in your cell for many hours.

All you hear is metal tapping...

Girls that are upset.

- Prison is definitely no summer camp.

It's pretty intense,

especially in the beginning.

You don't really know the rules and how it works.

At the beginning, you don't have anything,

you don't have money.

I remember the first cell that they put me in,

it had a camera,

and there was no television, I had no paper and pen,

so you're just sitting there with nothing but your thoughts.

With a heroin addict who was just shaking

because her legs hurt because she's in need of her dose.

And it's a reality check.

You realize, I'm in another country in prison.

This is messed up.

The first summer, because I got arrested at the end of August,

so their summer is end of the year.

It's like, you know, when you open an over,

you feel the heat?

That's what summer's like in Australia.

It's so hot.

It goes up to like 48 degrees.

That's insane,

insanely hot to be in a prison with no air conditioning.

I'm telling you.

I lost a lot of people.

People that I thought were my friends, my ride-or-die...

Some people just took the door

and I didn't fight to keep them.

- You realize everybody doesn't love you and...

And the world will do just fine without you.

I think it's a pretty lonely feeling.

- Alex, he was sad.

I mean, he knew what I was in, he lived it, so...

I think he really wanted to help.

- He would contact us to let us know what was going on.

I think he sent her what she needed.

Clothing, whatever.

- He was always answering my phone calls,

always trying to reassure me and listening to me.

He was sending me a lot of money as well,

like $600 a month.

And I remember him saying,

"I want you to be the biggest baller of the prison."

So sweet.

I did 14 months in the maximum security,

and then when I got sentenced, I got um,

a re... class they say,

and they sent me to a working prison.

- Emu Plains is a minimum security prison.

And basically any prisoner who wanted to could just walk out.

There wouldn't be much to stop them.

They don't have big high-wired fences.

They don't have armed guards prowling around the place

keeping an eye on them. (mooing)

- I think someone escaped from there

by simply walking out of the door

because there wasn't any...

Like, there wasn't anyone watching them.

So I think to be in Emu Plains, that just shows

they judged that she didn't pose any risk at all.

(♪♪)

- Some days, she was more handling it.

And some days she was just crushed.

But most of the time, I was amazed at how positive she stayed.

- Letters and photos and cards is always something you look forward to at the end of the day

when you come back from work,

I'd always go and ask, "Do I have mail?"

And you read it and it's just uh,

a little more time that you spend with your family and friends,

and it was always something that you would look forward to

at the end of the day.

Keeping in touch with the outside world a little bit.

(soft music)

(♪♪)

- Yeah, he left me. (laughing)

He left me for a hotter chick!

No, just kidding. Um...

You know, it's life, no hard feelings. I understand.

It's behind me now. Hmm.

I wasn't ready, he chose that.

He needed to live his life

and I think it was hurting him too.

But I wish that he'd just told me that instead of just

stop answering and stop writing.

It was really painful for me.

I felt like I was losing my best friend.

- I wanted to work because it makes your time fly so much more.

Once you have, I think it's two years after your sentence,

you can apply and write to the commissioner,

and you can ask to be accepted

on what's called a work's release program,

where they allow inmates to go outside to work

and reintegrate society.

- Yeah, I got an interview and I got hired in a garage there.

(♪♪)

It was called Rigoli.

And it was in Kirrawee, which is in Sutherland,

it was very far. I used to take the train.

It was like a two-hour ride to go.

So yeah, I would wake up at 4:30 to take the train a 5, 5:10.

I would start at 8. So it was a long ride.

- It's not just given to anybody.

The jailees have to prove themselves.

And we employed Isabelle and other people through the program.

- It was a garage where the people get accidents

and they make insurance claims

and I got to like answer phone calls,

and it was so hectic, super busy, I remember.

And I wasn't used to this anymore, real life.

Crazy life.

Phone is ringing, people are calling,

people are upset, I'm like, using a computer,

I haven't used a computer for like three years,

and I was so nervous.

- She was a pleasure, she always was smiling,

she was always... She was going through a rough time,

but she always tried, she never gave up.

- There's confirmation that Coronavirus has reached Australia.

- The number of infected people on the Diamond Princess

has tripled overnight.

- The world will soon enter a pandemic phase of the Coronavirus.

- Covid changed my life

and the fact that I wasn't able to go out working

and it sucked because it was such a great opportunity for me.

You know, one morning they just said, "You're not going."

- So it was very restrictive in terms of

how outside people interact with the prison,

how the prisoners interact with each other.

- The jail would not accept any visitors.

But they invested in tablets

and we could have Zoom visits with our family.

And it would also include people from overseas.

- I was able to have two visits during the week if I wasn't working,

but it was good to be able to see my family face to face,

and everybody's changing...

It was just good to see them.

(soft music)

It was the pandemic,

so I didn't meet the parole board

or parole officer but she called me.

And started asking questions and stuff,

and it's getting real, you know?

It was, I think it was...

maybe 10 months before my release or something.

And then I was like, you know,

maybe they're not gonna release me,

because that's my non-parole period,

I'm like, maybe they're gonna say, "No, you're staying another year" you know?

I was ready for this, 'cause that was a possibility.

So yeah, I just didn't believe it.

But it happened.

- When she told me, I was ecstatic.

I lost my-- I was... (indistinct)

- International travellers return to a lot of changes at the airport.

After a Covid test, they have to go to a hotel for three days.

And no one's very happy about it.

- So, I guess for her, that would've been almost like going into another prison,

but one that was slightly more luxurious I guess.

- It was like $900 for three days.

With gross food.

And it was freezing cold, you know like, 27th of February,

it was like the first time in years that I'd seen snow.

And I was freezing.

But yeah, I was just happy to be in my country.

(♪♪)

(soft music)

- I could just get home, chill a little bit,

breathe and just...

take time to think what I wanna do without the stress

of going to work straight away, you know?

- I don't know what makes him think that I will come back with him, I mean...

I felt hurt, I felt...

Why can't you be there for me?

And now you want me back? No, sorry,

I can't go back. So...

- He's my friend, he's been there at the very worst time of my life,

but yeah, I just can't go back to my past life,

I gotta leave my past behind and move on.

(soft music)

(birds chirping)

I feel a lot of judgement,

I feel a lot of whispering and curiosity.

Yeah, I can feel it.

It's destroyed my life

and those around me were pretty affected by this.

Job-wise and to get an apartment as well...

I was aware that it would be another fight.

But I didn't know that it would be this hard.

I opened a bank account and they did some research afterward,

and they closed it.

They said that the risk was too high,

because I was taking part in criminal activity.

Yeah, true story.

I'm not gonna say which bank, but uh,

it's pretty frustrating.

I'm not saying I'm not done paying what I did,

it's a very serious crime.

But it sucks because I'm trying to get back on my feet

and move on from this story

and people are closing doors in my face because of...

the media attention that the whole case got.

- Yeah, I mean it's just

the natural consequences of committing a crime, one,

and the natural consequences in direct effect

of being reported in the media.

- The crime and the punishment tend to fit,

most of time there's a high correlation there.

And yes, we write about the times that they're not correlated,

and that's what makes good narratives and stories.

But most of the time, those fit.

You know, we all make mistakes in life, all of us.

The only difference is some of us pay a different cost than others.

My biggest issue with that was,

once she comes back to Montreal or Canada,

which I knew would be the day after she got her parole,

'cause Australia wasn't gonna keep her there,

it was... what next? Right?

And that's almost as daunting as the time served incarcerated.

Now, you Google my name when I'm just trying to get a job

after I paid the price,

how long do you pay the price for?

These are large existential questions

that I don't believe lawmakers and the criminal justice systems

ever take into account.

- She's not just what she did.

You know, when one person tells you or you hear

of one person judging you...

Can you imagine having 30,000 people,

300,000 people judging you now?

Try it at home.

(♪♪)

- It was doomed for fire from the beginning.

And I'm sure she's learned a lot of lessons.

And it's a shame they had to go through what they went through.

You know.

At the end of the day, to me, in my eyes, they're still kids.

- Yeah.

- Uh, and they're not bad kids, they're good kids.

You know.

But they did the wrong thing.

Yeah. Anyhow, that's how it is.

(bright music)

- This story changed me completely actually.

I mean, I don't know who I would be today or where I would be

if I didn't get caught, you know?

I would probably be a big asshole with a lot of money.

Probably end up in Asia somewhere.

You know, executed, so,

I got caught in a beautiful country with great values.

And good prison conditions.

And it changed me for the best.

This lifestyle is behind me, I just want peace and quiet.

I just want to buy myself a house

and lock myself in and just have peace.

I just wanna have peace.

But um, yeah, just...

Normal life.

Friends, family, travel.

And no luggage full of cocaine, just...

Just peace of mind. Hmm.

(♪♪)

Subtitling: difuze