Adelaide woman Cassandra Sainsbury charged over 5kg cocaine drug bust in Colombia
UPDATE: A fitness trainer facing 25 years in a notorious Colombian prison after she was caught with 5.8kg of cocaine in her suitcase tells her family she’s the victim of criminals who planted the drugs on her.
A fitness trainer and volunteer firefighter facing 25 years in a notorious Colombian prison after she was caught with 5.8kg of cocaine in her suitcase has told her family she is the victim of criminals who planted the drugs on her.
Cassandra Sainsbury, 22, from Moana in Adelaide, was arrested on drugs trafficking charges at El Dorado International Airport, in Bogotá, on April 11, just minutes before she was due to board a plane back to Australia.
She is now being held at Colombia’s largest women’s prison — El Buen Pastor — while she waits for trial, which could take up to two months, her family says.
Ms Sainsbury was visiting Colombia on a working holiday and departed Australia on April 3.
Her mum Lisa Evans told radio show Kyle & Jackie O on KIIS 1065 this morning that it was a “devastating situation”.
Ms Sainsbury reportedly told her mum that she was given the drugs by a man who offered to be her translator while she was in Colombia on a short working holiday.
“He had been helping her all week, taking her around and showing her places, and just being a nice guy,” Ms Evans said.
He said Cassie, who hoped to marry in February next year, wanted to buy some gifts for her bridal party, as well as for her family and friends.
“She mentioned about these headphones she wanted to get and this man said to her ‘I know a guy that if you buy 16 or 18 of them, he can give you a really good price’.”
Cassie agreed and Ms Evans said on the day of Cassie’s departure the man came to her hotel and gave her the headphones, which were individually wrapped, possibly in black plastic.
“And this is where the naive bit comes in, she didn’t even rip it open to make sure it was headphones in there,” she said.
Ms Evans said the family had hired a respected lawyer who was advising Cassie to plead guilty to avoid a potential jail sentence of between 18 to 25 years.
The minimum sentence is six years but Ms Evans is hoping it will be reduced to four if she provides information about the man who gave her the drugs.
“I would rather her do four than 18 (years),” Ms Evans said.
Her older sister, Khala, was due to pick her up from Adelaide Airport on Easter Saturday but woke to a “horror story” Good Friday morning.
“They X-rayed her luggage and they found 5.8kg of cocaine concealed in packaging which was meant to be gifts for people for her bridal party and family friends,” Khala told The Advertiser.
“She’s supposed to be getting married next year and (the cocaine) was all concealed in the packaging of headphones she bought.”
“She was with somebody she had met that could speak English and she was sightseeing, he was showing her around,” Khala said.
“She came across some headphones that she was going to buy and pass out to everybody and he told her he knew a guy that could get them cheaper.
“She did that and got them handed to her Wednesday morning before she left, she just put them straight into her suitcase.
“There are just no words. Cassie is an honest girl, she wouldn’t do something like this in a million years.
“It’s like you’re watching a horror movie and you’re not waking up.”
Cassandra said she had passed on the man’s number to police but the person was no longer contactable. “There’s CCTV footage of where she met this guy.”
A Colombian lawyer has advised the family to consider a guilty plea to avoid a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, but communications have been difficult because of language barriers.
“He’s (the lawyer) hoping to downgrade the charges to the minimum if she pleads guilty but she is seeking advice from a different lawyer and the possibilities could be different,” Khala said.
“It’s so hard — myself and mum just can’t up and leave, I’ve got four kids and flights are so expensive without even looking at accommodation.
“We’d love to have a representative from Australia but we’re struggling to find money for the lawyer as it is.”
With those legal costs soaring by the day Ms Sainsbury’s family have turned to a fundraising website to help ease the financial strain, aiming to raise $15,000 on FundRazr.
On the site Lisa Evans, Ms Sainsbury’s mother, said she was “scared to death” for her daughter.
“As her mother I’m devastated that my little girl is in this place,” the post said.