A Documentary About 2 Canadians Arrested For Drug Trafficking In Australia Is Coming To Crave

If you're a Canadian true crime fan, you might want to add Crave's new documentary Cocaine, Prison & Likes: Isabelle's True Story to your must-watch list.

On July 12, the streaming service confirmed that a new mini docu-series will tell the story of infamous Quebecers Isabelle Lagacé and Mélina Roberge, who were implicated in one of Australia's largest-ever cocaine seizures back in 2016.

The women were just 28 and 22 years old at the time.

The series follows Lagacé, who was labelled as a "major drug dealer," and her life back in Canada after she spent several years in prison in Australia.

According to Crave, she opens up about "how she became a mule for an international drug trafficking network" during the doc, and shares her "stranger-than-fiction story."

The story will be told across three 60-minute episodes and the series is expected to drop in December.

In the meantime, here's a brief look at the story so far.

Who are Isabelle Lagacé and Mélina Roberge?

Known by the Australian tabloids as the "cocaine babes," Quebecers Isabelle Lagacé and Mélina Roberge were charged with drug smuggling after Sydney police found 95 kilograms of cocaine in their cruise ship luggage in 2016.

Their haul was valued at AU$31 million (around CA$26 million) per CTV News, and was considered the largest seizure of narcotics carried by passengers of a cruise ship or airliner in Australian history.

The drugs were stored in their luggage during a seven-week cruise on the Sea Princess ship, which stopped in the U.K, Ireland, the U.S.,Bermuda, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and then Australia.

The women involved attracted controversy in particular due to the seemingly lavish lifestyle they enjoyed before they were arrested.

Addressing a Sydney courtroom at her sentencing back in 2018, Roberge admitted that she ended up involved for the "likes."

Per CBC News, she loved her Instagram account and was unable to resist the opportunity for a free luxury cruise because of the prospect of selfies in places like New York and Lima.

In exchange for the free vacation, she was required to pretend to be a traveller in what ended up being an international drug-smuggling operation.

"I know that I have made really poor choices. All I was seeing was how much attention and 'likes' I would get from my pictures," Roberge said in a statement to the court.

Lagacé and Roberge were sentenced to eight and seven years respectively in prison in Australia. Both were released in 2021 under conditions.

The young women, who were in their 20s at the time, were accompanied by 65-year-old André Tamine, who was sentenced to eight years and five months for his involvement.

Since her release in May 2021, Roberge has been interviewed by Félix Daigle and Étienne Boulay about her experiences.

Until now, Lagacé has remained pretty quiet about what happened.

While you wait for Cocaine, Prison & Likes: Isabelle's True Story, why not binge-watch one of these truly wild Canadian true crime documentaries?