Peru Two Dad says daughter is 'struggling' in prison

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Billie Reid's daughter Melissa is currently in a Peruvian prison. Credit: Good Morning Britain/ITV

Billie Reid says his daughter Melissa is "struggling" while serving a prison sentence for drug smuggling in Peru, Good Morning Britain heard.

The bureaucracy surrounding her bid to be moved to a jail closer to home has moved slowly and "not making much progress".

Billie's daughter Melissa was arrested at Lima International Airport in August 2013, alongside Michaella McCollum, as the pair tried to smuggle cocaine out of the country.

McCollum, from Dungannon, County Tyrone, and Reid, from Lenzie, in Scotland, were jailed in December 2013 and are being held at the Ancon 2 prison in Peruvian capital, Lima.

Billie warned other young people about the consequences of international drug smuggling and said there was "no such thing as a free lunch" if they were being treated to a flashy lifestyle from complete strangers.

Read: Peru drug smuggler to be sent to N Ireland prison

The pair had 11kgs of cocaine hidden in food packages in their luggage, which they later admitted to trying to smuggle out of the country.

The girls claimed they were the victim of an armed gang in Ibiza, who had forced them to travel to Peru with the intention of smuggling drugs back to the Spanish party island.

Reid and McCollum, both now 21, eventually plead guilty to drug smuggling and were sentenced to six years and eight months behind bars, dodging the maximum 15 year stretch they could have got if the case had gone to trial.

McCollum is expected to be transferred to a Northern Ireland prison.

Billie's daughter Melissa is at the beginning of an almost seven year stretch behind bars. Credit: REUTERS/Mariana Bazo

Read: Peru pair may face probe

Now Billie is spearheading a campaign to stop other young people finding themselves in a foreign prison on charges of drug smuggling.

In 2013 some 669 British nationals were arrested abroad for drug-related offences.

Some 771 have been arrested this year so far and the Foreign Office is keen to highlight the conditions in foreign prisons.

"There's not a lot of rehabilitation in the prisons in Peru," Billie said.

"There are long periods of time where they are just left to read books. She likes to try and keep fit. There are no facilities to try and do that other than running round a concrete courtyard."