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Convicted Australian drug trafficker Cassie Sainsbury has claimed she was sexually assaulted by a drug mastermind before he gave her almost 6 kilograms of cocaine to smuggle from Colombia.
Key points:
- Cassie Sainsbury was jailed in November 2017 in Colombia for cocaine trafficking
- She said she did it because she was "desperate" and "needed money"
- She said she was sexually assaulted by a drug lord before trying to smuggle the drugs
Ms Sainsbury, a former personal trainer from Adelaide, was jailed in November 2017 after being arrested at Bogota's El Dorado international airport in April that year with 18 packages of cocaine stashed in her luggage.
She was 22 at the time of her arrest and was stopped while trying to smuggle 5.8 kilograms of cocaine inside 18 separate packages of headphones.
She was initially facing up to 21 years in prison, but had her sentenced reduced to six years after a judge accepted a plea deal.
However, Ms Sainsbury's Colombian lawyer, Orlando Herran, confirmed last week his client had been released from prison in Bogota.
In an interview with Channel Nine that aired on Sunday, Ms Sainsbury said she took the job simply because she needed money.
Recounting the lead-up to her arrest, she said she checked into a hotel after arriving in Bogota and met a 39-year-old Brazilian drug lord who she said was behind the whole operation.
Fighting through tears, she said it was then that she was sexually assaulted by the drug lord.
"It was basically, he was saying that I had to be there with him, that I had to do what he wanted, that I didn't have a choice," she said.
"He gave me a soft drink and it was almost like, I felt like I was getting drunk, I was getting tipsy, I started getting sleepy.
"From then he basically forced my clothes off."
'I couldn't make someone else pay for my mistakes'
She went on to say she felt trapped into taking the job once in Bogota, claiming the drug lord had threatened the safety of her family.
She said he had photos of her sister and her then-fiancé.
"He simply had the threat above me saying that if I didn't do what I was asked to do then it was my family," she said.
"I felt like I had to go through with it because I couldn't make someone else pay for my mistake.
"He threatened to kill my sister, they had photos of my sister. Also, they sent me two photos of Scott."
During court proceedings, Ms Sainsbury claimed she was acting under duress when she was caught with the drugs at the airport.
The sexual assault allegations had never been aired before.
She also claimed to have had evidence of the photos on her phone but had forgotten the password.
She says she still does not remember the password to her phone.
'Mix between desperate, stupid and trying to get ahead'
While still not admitting she ever had plans to smuggle drugs, she said she took the job because she felt she was in a desperate situation and "needed money".
In an interview with Channel Nine in September 2017, Sainsbury said she thought she had accepted a job as a legitimate courier transporting documents for $10,000 plus flights.
"The situation was very difficult for me and Scott, neither of us had any work, we had rent to pay, we had bills to pay and sort of, like, had all this pressure on top of me to try and do something before we go under," she said.
"But it wasn't exactly like, I came here thinking: 'Yes I'll go and smuggle drugs.' It wasn't like that.
"But when I got there, I knew something was off.
"I already had both feet stuck in the sand. You feel like you're sinking."
Ms Sainsbury, who broke up with her then-fiancé Scott while in prison, said she was now in a relationship with a female inmate she had met in jail.
She said she spent two years, 11 months, and 21 days behind bars, and had learnt a lot about her self.
Looking back, she said it still didn't feel real that we she was out of prison, and said she wouldn't wish her experience on anyone.
"It's a mix between being desperate, being stupid and wanting to try and do something to get ahead and I came out worse," she said.
Channel Nine has been contacted for further details about the interview.
Topics: drugs-and-substance-abuse, community-and-society, law-crime-and-justice, crime, international-law, police, cocaine, drug-use, sexual-offences, adelaide-5000, sa, australia, colombia
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