Bradtastic

This show follows the story of two American girls, Krista Barnes and Jennifer Davis who were, more or less tricked into being drug mules for Peruvian drug traffickers. Airing on National Geographic for the first time yesterday July 27 and again today at 3PM PST, this show was on National Geographic’s HD and non-HD channel. Hopefully it will air again for those who missed it; I think that it covers something very relevant, and it’s a good, clear warning to young women who might accidentally get caught in a lifestyle similar to these two.

The show is narrated by Krista, Jennifer, and through interviews. Their attorney who helped them plead guilty in Lima, Peru was also part of this show; Krista and Jennifer had no idea how common drug muling was. It’s now even worse; there are currently seven American citizens imprisoned in Peru, one female. In 2007, Peruvian authorities catch an average of two drug mules a day.

The girls at 19 years old lived what they called “the high life, the fast life” in the LA area and Hollywood. It appears that they had many different jobs, one of them involved club promotion. Between hanging out at the hottest parties and handing out flyers and invitations for the clubs, they were known as “the girls,” and they partied literally until daylight many days a week. Out of nowhere Krista got a call from an old family friend named Jose, only described as a full-time student and surfer. Krista states that it was strange that he called out of the blue, and all of a sudden he was in their lives; possibly the other way around as the girls ended up moving into his place, sharing his extra bedroom which opened up onto the beach, riding around with him in his hot car.

He had two friends that were around almost all of the time. They were Peruvian as well, and they were at Jose’s place basically every night. The story goes that, basically one day when Jose wasn’t around the two Peruvian guys asked Krista and Jennifer if they wanted to have an all-expense-paid luxury vacation “in paradise,” where the water is blue, the air is pure, the skies are clear and it’s warm all of the time. Being young and wanting to travel, they agreed… they even agreed to go with the catch being that they’d bring back “a little bit of something extra.”

A little bit of cocaine. As they tell the tale, at the airport going to Peru, they met “an American” (they think) who asked them what they were doing going to Peru. When they said that they were going to vacation there, he asked if they were going over to smuggle drugs; this encounter sticks in their minds because, as they recall, they honestly thought that they were the first people to ever do this. On top of the all-expense paid trip, they were going to get $5,000 when they get back. They were already making plans for the $10,000 they’d get once back home.

Once in Peru, they were greeted by two men who treated them like crap from the beginning. They put their bags in the car and zipped away, once some distance from the airport, they asked for the women’s passports. They made it clear that they had at least one gun by leaving it in plain view.

The girls were left in a crummy hotel about 40 miles outside Lima, with an emptied out pool and crappy conditions. Their bags were taken, as the drug smugglers needed to modify and insert the cocaine. The girls recall being bored, doing whatever to pass the time, walking around the hotel and watching Spanish television shows. They were told not to leave the hotel, but they were sent on a tour of Lima after two days.

The next major event is that they got their bags back, and the two men instructed them to remain cool and explain that they were at Matupichu and Cuzco… and while watching the show, I was thinking, “why didn’t they actually take the girls to Matupichu and Cuzco so that they wouldn’t have to fake anything and they could have pictures for evidence?” (It makes even less sense that they didn’t do this after hearing how much pure coke they were muling.) They got their bags back, and in the morning, they were picked up by someone else and taken to the airport in Lima. Even though they were given anti-anxiety pills, it’s clear from the description that they were acting nervous and suspicious from the start. They denied help from the porter, and headed up to the ticket counter. They noticed police and drug dogs all around, and an agent at the ticket counter who questioned them. They explained that they were there for nine days and visited Matupichu and Cuzco (two tourist spots because of ancient ruins in both locations… I guess), but the agent doesn’t buy it. They’re screwed.

They’re taken to a back room and drug dogs sniff out their bags. Although the dogs can’t smell it, the officers aren’t yet done. One inspector pokes the bag with a rod, out comes cocaine. They spend almost an hour ripping the bags apart, and eventually pull out a false bottom box. 8.7 kilos (I think) were packed in the bags. About twenty pounds… that’s a lot more than “just a little something,” and I think that for that amount (about $1,000,000 worth, US street value) the girls should have actually been taken to Matupichu and Cuzco! At least they’d have had some fun before going to prison.

He makes them watch their plane take off for America. I’m sure it’s a tactic to get them to break down. They were taken to the jail of the local police station, still in disbelief, still in shock. They cried themselves to sleep, spending more than fifteen days in that cell. They had meetings with a representative from the US embassy and their attorney, who helped them plead guilty… however, they were incarcerated for 18 months before formal sentencing. On March 11, 1998 “the girls” were charged.

With their testimony, the two men they had contact with were arrested, but the total size of the drug ring is not known. They were given six years, one more than the required five. In some way, it might have been a blessing in disguise that they were arrested in Lima instead of in America; although the conditions were bad and the food was gross (had bugs in it, a rat tail once), they would have received a mandatory ten years if caught in the US, might not have stayed together, and would have been put into a dangerous American prison. From all accounts, although conditions weren’t great, the prison that they were in operated more like a small city and they were able to make friends at the facility. The other women there took care of them and their attorney was able to bring them food and comfort, giving them the hugs and nurturing that helped them to survive their situation.

They were released early for good behavior, spending a total of about three years in prison. When they got out, they went different ways, Krista went back to California and Jennifer went east to be with her family. The story concludes with Krista going back after about 8 years (or something) to the women’s facility in Lima, to see Americans (if there are any there) and to see people that were there when Krista and Jennifer served their sentences.

Jose was never charged in connection to their crime, however during the time of filming, he was in prison in the US on other drug related offenses. Krista graduated from college and with her degree she is going to help people Africa. The documentary does not cover what Jennifer is currently up to, but they do show the real girls together, and they surprisingly captured an amazing amount of Krista’s emotion during the visit of the prison. She saw one woman who’s been incarcerated for more than ten years, and the woman gave Krista a big hug… it seemed clear that the girls made friends who had the heart to help them through their tough stay.

One thing about the National Geographic style is that they use actors to reenact the events of their story. I was wondering the whole time how accurate the portrayals were, if they went to the actual hotel or if they were even in Peru for the bulk of it. The actors didn’t really look the same, but it helped to flesh out what really happened. I think I saw the actor who portrayed Krista in something else.

The reason I wanted to write about this event and post it is because drug muling is incredibly common and not a good thing to do. I hope people can learn from their story, I wish more people had access to see it. I don’t think that the larger part of America took notice when this event took place, and after doing some research it was clear that their representatives in America felt that the government wasn’t offering any support and practically abandoned them in Peru. It’s not easy to find a lot of supplemental information regarding their story, and what I have found has been repetitive and a little bit vague.

Don’t smuggle drugs!

(I was almost going to write about this yesterday, but I was feeling too ill.)