Katrina Stokes: Cassie Sainsbury arrest is a cautionary tale for us all
THE first rule of travel is never trust a stranger who asks you to carry something for them. If nothing else, Cassie Sainsbury is guilty of gross stupidity, writes Katrina Stokes.
GUILTY or innocent, the growing consensus is that Cassie Sainsbury is stupid.
If the 22-year-old really did not willingly try to smuggle 5.8kg of cocaine out of Colombia last month, then she’s totally naive in accepting 18 headphones from a complete stranger (wrapped and stuffed with coke), supposedly purchased to give as wedding gifts for her upcoming nuptials.
If she is guilty, then the blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl from Adelaide’s southern suburbs is completely foolish in thinking that she could get the drugs out of one of the world’s most notorious drug capitals past border security X-ray scanners and sniffer dogs.
People often tell me I’m gullible and a little too trusting at times, but I would never, ever stuff my suitcase with products packed by some random guy in South America of all places.
As a young person who has travelled quite a bit, my first thought upon reading Cassie’s situation on Monday morning was — what an idiot.
It’s common knowledge that countries, such as those in South America where illict drug production and trafficking is rife, come down hard on drug smugglers.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website carries numerous travel warnings to the region. It has long advised travellers to steer clear of parts of Colombia because of its known association with drugs and high frequency of kidnappings and robberies.
Cassie’s case begs the question whether lessons were learnt from Australia’s other high-profile drugs case of the early 2000s — Schapelle Corby and her boogie board bag.
Parts of Cassie’s story echo Corby’s ill-fated tale, locked up for almost a decade in Bali’s Kerobokan prison after she was convicted in 2005 for the importation of 4.2kg of cannabis into the Indonesian island.
To this day, Corby continues to maintain the drugs (concealed in humungous, obvious clear bags filled to the brim with marijuana) were planted in her bag by someone else. But given boogie boards are slim and weigh virtually nothing, all these years later, it remains hard to believe she didn’t notice her bag was both heavy and bulging at the time. Opinion polls conducted in Australia back then found most people believed Corby was innocent.
Or, like Cassie’s case, did we all just want to believe she was innocent?
Since details emerged of Cassie’s arrest mere minutes before she was due to board a plane from El Dorado International Airport in Bogota on April 11, her plight hit headlines worldwide.
Discrepancies with her story are unravelling quickly and as a result, the public is fast losing sympathy.
For me, even the smallest of details rang alarm bells.
Cassie supposedly flew all the way to South America for one week, travelling on a “working holiday” to a country that also happens to be one of the world’s biggest producers of cocaine.
Alarm bells rang louder with confusion surrounding why Cassie was in Colombia in the first place. Her family said she had travelled to South America on April 3 on a solo marketing trip to promote her work as a personal trainer.
This was contradicted by her fiance, Scott Broadbridge, who claimed she was over there as part of her job managing a commercial cleaning business with national and international clients.
Further evidence revealed yesterday stacks up against her innocence, with revelations a last-minute plane ticket was purchased for Cassie in Hong Kong by an unknown party for her flights from Australia to Bogota via London.
As an outsider looking in, it’s all looking a bit fishy.
I do, however, believe in the sentiment that someone is innocent until proven guilty.
For now, it’s looking like Cassie’s shot for immediate freedom is slim.
If that is the case, her story is an example of a wasted young life that looks set to spend the next few years (or up to 25) behind bars in a filthy, corrupt Colombian prison.
Even if she is released relatively quickly, Cassie’s time locked up will no doubt haunt her forever. This hellish experience will define her life and my heart goes out to her.
But, like Corby’s story, Cassie’s ordeal is a stark reminder to everyone that we must not mess with the law — wherever you are — because it will more than likely catch up with you.