Brazilian Teen Caught Smuggling Drugs Could Get Death Penalty If Found Guilty

A 19-year-old girl could get the maximum penalty if found guilty of smuggling drugs into Indonesia earlier this year.

Identified as Manuela Vitoria de Araujo Farias, the teenager was arrested at the Bali International Airport on Jan. 27 after authorities found 3 kg of cocaine in her luggage, New York Post reported.

Farias has since claimed she got tricked into bringing the drugs to Indonesia. Trafficking drugs into the country is punishable by the death penalty.

She was only arrested after passing through airports in Brazil and Qatar, where the drugs were not detected, according to The Mirror.

The teen has been under the custody of Indonesian authorities for the past three months after getting charged with international drug trafficking.

The prosecution demanded that Farias receive the maximum penalty possible if she is found guilty of smuggling the party drug. They believe that the teenage girl is working with a drug gang.

If Farias is found guilty, she could face execution by firing squad or life imprisonment if convicted of trafficking.

Contrary to the prosecution's claims, the legal counsel of the Brazilian national insisted that the teenager got tricked into cooperating with the gang who hired and told her about the temples on the island where monks pray for the sick.

Farias was allegedly seeking Buddhist prayers to cure her mother, who recently suffered a stroke.

"They said that she could pray in the temples to ask for her mother's healing," the lawyer of Farias stated.

The gang had allegedly promised to pay Farias for lessons since the 19-year-old was a keen surfer when she arrived in the country.

To get more international help for her case, the family of Farias has put up a crowdfunding campaign to get an expert for the Brazilian's legal trouble.

Meanwhile, the case of Farias is still under investigation. It was previously adjourned but is now set to resume later this month.