Aussie tricked into smuggling cocaine, says family

  • 01/05/2017

A young Australian woman faces 25 years in a Colombian prison after putting what she thought was a new set of headphones in her bag.

It was actually a 5.8kg block of cocaine.

Cassandra Sainsbury, 22, was at El Dorado International Airport in Bogota on April 11, when she saw some headphones and decided to buy them as gifts for family and friends back home, according to reports.

A man showing her around told her he could get them cheaper, and gave her a concealed package.

"She put it straight in her suitcase. She's very naïve," her older sister Khala told the Daily Mail.

Sainsbury was arrested and denied bail, and is reportedly being kept in an overcrowded prison until her bail hearing - which isn't for another two months.

"She's just so scared that she's caught up on the other side of the world for something she didn't do with no support," mother Lisa Sainsbury told 7 News.

"She's a CFS volunteer fighter, she's into fitness and training. It's so far away from what Cassie would ever do."

A crowdfunding campaign to fight for her freedom has so far raised AU$2590.

Newshub.