Convicted drug smuggler Cassie Sainsbury marks seventh Easter since arrest

The convicted drug smuggler marked the seventh Easter since she was arrested at Colombia’s El Dorado International Airport, with 5.8 kgs of cocaine stashed in her luggage.

Cassie Sainsbury, who served three years in a Colombian jail after she was caught with 5.8 kgs of cocaine, has shared an emotional social media post, marking the seven years since her arrest.

In a video posted on her Instagram stories, Sainsbury, now 29, shared a short clip of herself barefaced and teary eyed, alongside the caption: “Definitely not my fav (sic) time of the year. Seven Easter’s later and it still feels like yesterday,” she wrote.

Days before Easter 2017, the South Australian woman was arrested at El Dorado International Airport in Bogota.

Cassie Sainsbury marks the seventh Easter since she was arrested with 5.8kg of cocaine at a Colombian airport

While she was meant to return to Australia on Easter Sunday (April 16), the then 22-year-old was eventually convicted of smuggling drugs inside 18 pairs of boxed headphones, and served nearly three years of a six-year sentence at the notorious El Buen Pastor prison.

Sainsbury was released from jail, during a humanitarian decree during issued amid to Covid pandemic, which allowed 4000 prisoners to be released into at-home detention.

She then returned to Adelaide in August 2022.

Speaking to Fitzy and Wippa with Kate Ritchie last year, Sainsbury revealed she was frequently attacked while in prison.

“I had a lot of beatings. I got beaten up a lot. I got stabbed. I got two stab marks on my arms where I was stabbed. I went through a lot of things that I wouldn’t wish on anyone ever,” she said.

“Obviously being the gringa (a Spanish slur meaning a foreign woman) in a Spanish prison, it just brings that attention of you know, rich white girl. Need to I guess bully her down until that’s it.”

Cassie Sainsbury with her wife Tatiana. The pair got married in 2022.

Now back in Australia, Sainsbury has continued to maintain a social media presence, and sells exercise programs.

In 2023, she also appeared on reality TV show SAS Australia, however quit on the second episode.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph following her exit, Sainsbury said she’s struggled to find work since returning to Australia.

“I’ve applied for anything and everything – gym work, admin, hospitality and cleaning. It always comes up with, not likely to proceed,” she said.

“I don’t want special treatment, I don’t want to be in the spotlight, I just want a normal life – a nine to five job, an eight to six job, just an everyday job but I keep getting rejected.”

Originally published as Convicted drug smuggler Cassie Sainsbury marks seventh Easter since arrest