Quebecer pleads guilty to possession of cocaine found on cruise ship
Isabelle Lagacé arrested along with 2 other Canadians after $30.5M worth of coke found in suitcases
Isabelle Lagacé today pleaded guilty in an Australian court to cocaine possession charges, months after she and two other Canadians were arrested when 95 kilograms of cocaine valued at about $30.5 million were found in suitcases on a cruise ship.
André Tamine will go on trial starting Feb. 3 and Mélina Roberge is petitioning to have her case dismissed.
Roberge's lawyers argued there was no evidence linking their client to a locked suitcase in the cabin she shared with Lagacé, and has asked that her case be dismissed.
The Canadians face potential life sentences if convicted.
The three were arrested when the MS Sea Princess docked in Sydney in August. Large bags of cocaine were found in suitcases in their cabins.
Their movements were tracked by a joint operation involving the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), Australian Federal Police and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from the time they boarded the cruise ship in England.
Police in Australia believe the operation was organized by a powerful drug syndicate.