One of the Quebec women busted in Australia for trying to smuggle cocaine into the country off a luxury cruise liner claims her life was threatened.
Former softcore porn starlet Isabelle Lagace, 29, sobbed to a Sydney court: “I fear for my life.”
Lagace was arrested with fellow Quebecers Melina Romberce, 23, and Andre Tamine, 64, last August for allegedly smuggling 95 kilos of Bolivian marching powder off the Sea Princess. The dope had a street value of more than $30 million.
Lagace pleaded guilty in December but will not be sentenced until her alleged co-conspirators have gone to trial, later this year. She faces life in an Australian slammer.
She told the court she was working in a Montreal restaurant and had borrowed $20,000 to reboot her life.
But when loansharks called in the debt, she had no way to pay it back so was given the option of smuggling the cocaine into Australia. Her handlers assured her she was unlikely to be searched.
A statement from Lagace’s sister was read in court: “The bottom line is she was convinced it was an easy job for easy money and I know she regrets every step of that journey.”
The soft-spoken waitress flew from Montreal to Dover, England where she and Romberce, who worked in a jewelry story, bordered the cruise ship. The party girls posted pictures on social media of themselves in bikinis and whooping it up.
On board, Lagace says she met six men and one woman involved in the conspiracy.
“I kind of knew they would threaten me and my family.I had no choice,” she said. “They came and told me I had to do this. I had to take the trip and I had to bring a bag.”
But she remained tight-lipped when it came to naming names. For carrying out the smuggling operation, Lagace said her debt “would be erased.”