Viral cocaine smuggling Canadian Instagram cruise girls sentenced in Australia

Two Canadian women in their twenties, who documented their lavish 68-day world cruise on Instagram only to later be caught smuggling more than $23 million worth of cocaine, have been sentenced in Australia and may not be getting out until long after Instagram is no longer cool.

In case you missed it, here is a brief intro summary from our original post about the YOLO Is The New Black stars from August of 2016:

22-year-old Melina Roberge and 28-year-old Isabelle Lagacé were arrested on Sunday along with 63-year-old André Tamine when police found 95 kilograms of cocaine in their luggage after their ship, the MS Sea Princess, arrived in Sydney. According to Australian Border Force commander Tim Fitzgerald, 35 kilograms of cocaine were found in the cabin shared by Melina and Isabella, while 60 kilograms of the drug were found in Andre’s luggage in a separate cabin. The total value of the drugs confiscated is estimated to me more than $23 million US dollars. It is still unknown how or if André and the young women are connected.

Isabelle Lagacé pleaded guilty to the smuggling charge and received a sentence of 7 1/2 years in prison back in November. “It pains me to know my defining moments of womanhood will be spent in prison halfway around the world,” Isabelle said. “This will haunt me for the rest of my life.”

Isabelle’s Instabestie Mélina Roberge was sentenced this week and she received an ever-so-slightly worse eight-year sentence. The judge in the case decided to do a bit of grand standing as he chastised these kids today for their “vacuous existence” and desire to present an attractive image of themselves to other people.

“It is sad they seek to attain such a vacuous existence where how many likes they receive is their currency,” Judge Catherine Traill stated. “She wanted to be the envy of others…I doubt she is now the envy of others.”

Here’s a snapshot of the cocaine confiscated by Australian Border Force:

Mélina will be eligible for parole on May 27, 2021, while Isabella will be eligible a few months earlier in February of 2021.

64-year-old “sugar daddy” André Tamine, who arranged the smuggling and financed the girls’ trip, also pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in October.

Amazingly, the two girls’ story has yet to become a Lifetime movie or a new reality show concept. I confess I would sooooooo watch MTV’s The Challenge: Smugglers!