A former beauty queen caught with 358kg of cocaine has been sentenced – but has effectively walked free.
Jade Isabela Callaú Barriga was the only passenger on a small plane that made an emergency landing in a field after a mechanical failure.
Locals called the police, who found several huge bundles containing 342 packages inside the aircraft.
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Tests later confirmed the haul was high-purity cocaine, over 85% pure, weighing a total of 357.9kg (789lb).
It had a street value of about £12.1m.
Callaú and her boyfriend, pilot Leonardo Monte Alto Gusmão, were arrested after the landing in Puerto Ibicuy, north-west of Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 22 January.
The pair were remanded in custody.
But last Friday (3 Oct), a court in Concepción del Uruguay handed Callaú a three-year suspended sentence and a fine.
The 22-year-old was banned from Argentina and deported to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, the next night (4 Oct) – effectively walking free once she boarded the plane, as reported by Need To Know.
Judges accepted her role in the trafficking operation was secondary and took into account her age, clean record, and claims she suffered gender-based violence.
Callaú, from San Borja, was crowned Miss Ganadera and Miss Fexpo San Borja in 2019.
The psychology student had also appeared on Bolivian TV before her arrest.
Her mother, Patricia, told local media: “She was blinded by him – not by love, I don’t think, but by certain privileges.
“I’m sure he gave her money and gifts and used them to control her like a puppet.
“He’s a psychopath, violent, and a drug trafficker who’d already been convicted in Brazil, escaped to Bolivia, and changed his identity.”
The case against the pilot remains ongoing.
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