Alleged Quebec Coke Smuggler Claims She Had No Idea About Drugs on Cruise Ship

The younger of the two Quebec women charged with importing a commercial quantity of cocaine into Australia has pleaded not guilty, claiming she wasn’t aware that there was 29 kilograms of blow in her friend’s suitcase.

Melina Roberge, 23, sobbed in a Sydney courtroom this week as her lawyer argued she was oblivious to the fact that her friend Isabelle Lagace, 28, was hiding the coke in a suitcase inside the cabin the pair shared aboard the Sea Princess, a luxury cruiseliner. Roberge will stand trial in February.

Lagace has pleaded guilty and will sentenced in February, potentially facing life in prison.

The pair was arrested along with fellow Quebecer Andre Jorge Tamine, 63, when the cruiseliner docked in Sydney. A total of 95 kilograms of cocaine—valued at more than $30 million—was seized, with authorities describing it as Australia’s largest drug bust by plane or ship. Prior to being caught, Lagace and Roberge Instagrammed themselves partying at the cruise’s various stops, including Peru, the French Polynesia, and New York City.

Melina Roberge. Photo via Instagram

But the good times are over. According to UK paper The Sun, Roberge wept while being asked if she had any evidence she wanted to present. She answered “no.”

Crown prosecutor Lincoln Crowley said it would be highly unlikely that Roberge didn’t know about the massive coke shipment inside the tiny cabin she’d been sharing with Lagace for 39 days.

“The cocaine, 29 kilograms of it, was found in a cabin occupied by Roberge and Lagace for the past 40 days, packed up, strapped up, taped up and sitting in a suitcase and would be worth a considerable amount of money,” he said. “It is in effect a floating warehouse.”

To that, Roberge’s lawyer Ragni Mathur responded “You don’t need two chickens to keep warm a golden egg.” Lagace reportedly had both an iPhone and Blackberry, and refused to give investigators the password to the latter, telling them “You won’t be getting that.”

The court heard that Lagace, Roberge, and Tamine were part of a drug cartel and that four additional members were aboard the cruise.

The Daily Mail spoke to both women’s fathers. Roberge’s father said he told his daughter not to go on the cruise, and asked who was footing the bill for her $20,000 ticket, while Lagace’s father said he had no idea about the cruise until the arrest.

The tabloid also disclosed that Lagace has a background in porn and quoted a man who claimed to be Roberge’s ex-boyfriend as saying she was “always turned on by money and on the look-out for a sugar daddy,” which is a very Daily Mail thing to say.  

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