Two suspected British drugs mules have arrived in court in handcuffs to learn if they will be charged with smuggling £1.5 million worth of cocaine.
Michaella McCollum and Melissa Reid, both 20, were pictured in public for the first time after spending 15 days in police custody over drug trafficking allegations.
They were arrested as they tried to board a flight from the Peruvian capital Lima to Spain carrying 11kg of cocaine with a street value of around £1.5 million, according to police.
Officers have concluded their initial investigation into the case with their findings forming the basis of a pre-trial hearing that will determine what the pair are to be charged with.
If refused bail, the women face up to three years in jail before a trial.
The pair were pictured being escorted by officers from the National Police anti-drug headquarters in Peru to court, where they are expected to be formally charged.
Melissa, who was wearing a green jumper, appeared to be handcuffed as she was helped into a waiting vehicle.
Wearing a black leather jacket and t-shirt, Michaella stood behind, also under guard.
Both women deny the allegations and claim they were ordered at gunpoint to carry the cocaine by a violent drugs gang.
The court case is expected to go ahead after earlier fears of a second delay.
Michaella's lawyer, Peter Madden, told the Irish Times earlier today: "It doesn't look like the hearing is going to happen Tuesday, more likely to be Wednesday or Thursday now I think."
Mr Madden said the women had been kept in harsh conditions but had been treated well.
"They are fairly tough conditions, there's not an awful lot to eat there, but she's been treated fairly well by the police and by the people in the police centre," he said.
Yesterday further questions about the girls' version of events were raised after photographs emerged allegedly showing them posing on a balcony and on a beach with glasses of beer days before they were arrested at Lima airport.
Michaella, from Northern Ireland, and Melissa, a Scot, have told detectives pictures of them in bikinis were taken in Lima as they were being held by a South American cartel.
They have said the gang ordered them to take the photos of themselves smiling at various tourist spots in the Peruvian capital to convince border control officers and hotel staff that they were ordinary travellers.
But sources close to the investigation now say police are looking to question their stories with particular focus on just how well did they know each other before arriving in Lima.
Previously they claimed the first time they met was just days before being put on planes to Peru to pick up the drugs after being held against their will in a safe house.
Both had been working on the party island but claim they did not know one another.
However drug squad detectives at Dirandro Police Station in Lima yesterday questioned the women at length about the pictures believing they could have been taken in Ibiza.
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