Drug Smuggler Melissa Reid On Way Home To UK After Peru Prison Release

Reid was pictured leaving Lima Airport with her father Billy.
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British drug smuggler Melissa Reid has been released from prison in Peru and is on her way back to the UK.

The 22-year-old was photographed with her father, Billy, at Lima Airport on Tuesday evening.

It is understood the pair will travel back to the UK via an airport in Europe.

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British drug smuggler Melissa Reid has been released from prison in Peru and is on her way back to the UK
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Reid, from Lenzie, East Dunbartonshire, and Michaella McCollum, from Dungannon, Co Tyrone, were jailed in 2013 after trying to smuggle cocaine worth £1.5 million from Peru to Spain.

A judge in Lima last month granted an order to expel Reid as she met the legal requirements for release.

According to reports, the release process has now been completed.

McCollum, 23, was freed in March under new legislation but was required to remain on parole in Peru.

It is understood Reid will be able to return to the UK as a free woman.

The pair were caught at Lima Airport trying to board a flight with 24lb (11kg) of cocaine in food packets hidden in their luggage.

They claimed they were forced into carrying the drugs, but pleaded guilty to the charges and were sentenced to six years and eight months.

Reid's father Billy has previously said the impact of his daughter's crime on his family had been ''horrendous'' and spoke out in a video warning of the consequences of drug offences abroad.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said: "We continue to provide assistance to Melissa Reid and remain in contact with her family and local authorities."

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Melissa Reid, of Britain is escorted by police officers before boarding a flight in Lima, Peru, on Tuesday, June 21, 2016
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Reid is escorted by Peruvian authorities at the international airport in Lima
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Reid (R), and Irish Michaella McCollum, leave the Sarita Colonia courtroom after being sentenced to six years and eight months prision, on December 17, 2013
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McCollum, 20, who was arrested at Lima's airport carrying cocaine in their luggage, arrives at the Callao courtroom on December 17, 2013
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Briton Melissa Reid, 19, who was arrested at Lima's airport carrying cocaine in their luggage, arrives at the Callao courtroom on December 17, 2013. Two young women face between 15 and 18 years in jail for their alleged attempt to sneak a total of 11 kilos (24 pounds) of the drug out of Peru on a flight to Spain two weeks ago, said a statement from prosecutors. Their case has triggered sensational headlines in their homelands, as they had initially been reported missing in Spain in July. AFP PHOTO/ERNESTO BENAVIDES (Photo credit should read ERNESTO BENAVIDES/AFP/Getty Images)
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McCollum (L) and Reid (R) walk into the Sarita Colonia Jailhouse Court in the port of Callao, west of Lima, on September 24, 2013
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McCollum (L), and Reid, who were arrested at Lima's airport carrying cocaine in their luggage, talk next to a court appointed translator at the Callao courtroom where a Peruvian judge ordered they be remanded in custody pending trial on drug trafficking charges, on August 21, 2013
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Reid arrives at the Callao courtroom on December 17, 2013
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McCollum (L), and Reid, leave the Callao courtroom on August 21, 2013
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McCollum wipes a tear as she listens to Peruvian Judge Dilo Huaman at the Callao courtroom where he ordered they be remanded in custody pending trial on drug trafficking charges, on August 21, 2013
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McCollum (L), and Reid are seen after a short recess at the Callao courtroom on August 21, 2013
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Reid is escorted out of the Callao prosecutors building on August 20, 2013
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Reid (L) and McCollum are escorted out of the Callao prosecutors building on August 20, 2013