An Irish man who was arrested over a 55kg cocaine seizure could face up to 25 years in a Peruvian prison if convicted.
The 40-year-old was detained during a surveillance operation in Lima that was targeting a drug-trafficking organisation authorities have called Britanica.
Nine people were arrested during the operation last month, including the Irish man and a British national who were found with 55kg of cocaine in suitcases after police searched their rental car.
The pair had been under surveillance since arriving at Lima airport days earlier on July 21, with police suspecting they planned to smuggle the drugs to the UK.
Both men have since appeared in court and been placed in pre-trial detention while a judge investigates.
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Under Peruvian law, anyone who promotes or facilitates drug trafficking can face between eight and 15 years in prison, while a person caught in possession of drugs faces between six and 12 years.
It also legislates for aggravating factors, including if the drug value exceeds 20kg of basic cocaine paste or 10kg of cocaine hydrochloride, which carry a sentence of between 15 and 25 years.
Authorities believe the men were working for a Bulgarian criminal living in Lima who is suspected of co-ordinating the drug network.
Jorge Chavez airport, Callao, Lima, Peru. Photo: Getty
Footage of the Irish man’s arrest shows him and his British co-accused being removed from a car before police open the boot containing suitcases.
“What is this, sir?” the drug officer asks the men in Spanish, before opening the suitcases containing several blocks of what appears to be cocaine.
Peru is the second-biggest manufacturer of cocaine in the world
The Irish man fainted while police searched the vehicle and was subsequently arrested.
Other photos and videos captured by police officers show the Bulgarian man meeting a number of other suspects in shopping centres in Lima, with authorities suspecting they were finalising drug-smuggling plans.
In a statement, Peruvian police said they raided eight properties as part of the operation and arrested nine alleged members of the drug-trafficking gang.
Police said the operation “dealt a hard blow” to the gang and was part of a “fight against illicit drug trafficking”.
It was led by the anti-drug unit known as Dirandro, which was also involved in the arrests of Northern Irish woman Michaella McCollum and Scottish national Melissa Reid.
The so-called Peru Two were arrested at Lima airport in August 2013 after trying to take a suitcase full of cocaine on to a Spanish-bound flight.
They were later sentenced to more than six years in jail before being released in 2016.
Peru is the second-biggest manufacturer of cocaine in the world, with a recent Europol report estimating that a third of the drug consumed in Europe originates from the South American country.
A scaling-back of coca eradication programmes has led to increased production in recent years.
Several high-value seizures, some involving gardaí, have led to the wholesale price of cocaine increasing from €25,000 to €40,000 per kilo.