The father of one of two women held on suspicion of drug smuggling in Peru has been reunited with his daughter on her 20th birthday, vowing to bring his daughter home.
William Reid, who flew to Peru's capital Lima, was able to visit his daughter at the Dirandro police station in Lima for 15 minutes on Wednesday night, the Daily Mail said, and for longer on Thursday night.
During their meeting, Ms Reid told her father: "They made me do it." She told him that while she worked on the Mediterranean party island of Ibiza she was introduced to a British man who eventually forced her into meeting a gang of Colombian gangsters, who put a gun to her head.
Nightclub hostess Michaella McCollum Connolly (left) and Melissa Reid
William Reid, father of Melissa Reid, of Britain, arrives to the National Police anti-drug headquarters Lima, Peru, on Thursday
Unable to hug her father because of her handcuffs, she told him of how the gang forced her to fly to Peru, saying: "I wanted to tell the air hostesses or anyone in the airports, but the men said they would know if we had spoken to anyone, that they were watching all the time.
"It was a choice between doing what I was told and getting it over and done with and hopefully getting back to Spain or trying to escape and being killed."
Ms Reid said that she fears evidence in Peru has been contaminated by police because they did not wear gloves as they handled the food bags in which the drugs are said to have been stored, the Mail said.
When Ms Reid was told to return to her cell, her father told her: "We will do everything we can to get you out of here. We will work something out."
Reid, from Scotland, and Michaella McCollum Connolly, 20, from Dungannon, Co Tyrone in Northern Ireland, are suspected by detectives of trying to leave the country with £1.5 million of cocaine in their luggage.
They were detained while trying to board a flight from the Peruvian capital to Spain last week.
The pair both deny the accusations, and say they are victims of a violent gang who coerced them into carrying the drugs.
Connolly (left) and Reid say they were forced to carry the bags and were unaware they contained drugs
Lawyer Peter Madden, who is representing Ms McCollum Connolly, is expected to arrive in Peru.
As he left Belfast for Lima he said that Ms McCollum Connolly would deny any allegations if charged, but warned that legal proceedings could be lengthy.
He said: "She is saying she has done nothing wrong, that she is innocent and that as far as any offences are concerned, if she is charged she will be denying it."
Ms McCollum Connolly said last night that the girls had considered making a run for it before flying to Peru, as they were held captive in a flat in Palma: ‘We looked at each other and said “let’s run away and escape now”.
‘We didn’t think the men spoke English but then one of the guys ran over to us and said: “Be nice my friends, or my friends will shoot you in the head’ and he made a shooting gesture.
‘We were so scared that we didn’t try to run after that.’
Police are waiting for a translator before officially questioning the two women, which is expected to happen in the next few days.
They may be held pre-charge for up to 30 days and could then spend up to three years in prison before a trial.