Peru's drug-mules always seem to be passably attractive young western females hunting in pairs. They get lured into it by a charming, well-off Hispanic (Mr. Nice) offering them a free holiday. At the other end, they're met by a more sinister contact (Mr. Nasty) who takes away their passports and forbids them to leave the hotel for an unspecified interval. At the customs, they're caught and given a long jail sentence, which is mysteriously reduced by about three-quarters, before they fly home.
Krista the Californian looks and sounds a true dumb blonde, and we can hardly keep a straight face, hearing about her university degree in international development. If she spoke one complete sentence in the course of this video, then I must have sneezed. Jennifer the Midwesterner makes a rather more high-powered impression at first, her boyish features suggesting a brand of shrewdness, but we note the non-stop hippie dialogue, hallmark of the untested, and sure enough, she utterly fails to make a single point with any conviction.
As this was the very first episode of Banged Up Abroad, it is perhaps appropriate that the story should start in cliché style, with the girls meeting the smooth, handsome José by chance during a Mexican trip, and hearing his generous offer, which anyone with any sense would have steered clear of, especially as he even mentions the drugs, though claiming that it's only a tiny consignment, and everything has been organised down to the last detail. "Totally professional. There's no way you'll get caught. Trust me."
But the famous sniffer-dogs have recently been supplemented at customs by a new hi-tech device that we can't reveal, but which uncovers a cocaine-shipment far larger than had been indicated.
The view of their plane flying home without them must have been a poignant moment. Jennifer's tears as she remembers it may even have been genuine.
