24-Year Old Who Posted Drug Smuggling Trip On Instagram Sentenced

One of the two Canadian women who documented a lavish cruise trip to Australia on Instagram as a front for smuggling cocaine has been sentenced to at least four and a half years in prison.

Melina Roberge, along with two accomplices, had embarked on a round-the-world cruise, taking in a number of exotic locations, before the 95 kg (210 lb) haul was discovered on their cruise ship when it docked in Sydney.

Roberge broke down in tears in the courtroom. "I was meant to just be there and look like I was on holiday and look like a cover for everyone else," the 24-year-old Canadian said at the sentencing hearing.

"I am really sorry, I should have thought about the consequences and not what I would have gotten for it," she said.


Crown prosecutor Tom Muir told the court that she was aware of her role in the crime, and was using it to support her lavish lifestyle.

"She was not doing it for debt," he said. "It's for the lifestyle she wants to enjoy."

At the time, police told CNN affiliate Channel 7 that the seizure was Australia's biggest-ever drug bust through a "passenger stream."