Canadian woman faces life in prison after pleading guilty to smuggling £17m of cocaine on cruise ship

A Canadian woman faces life in prison after admitting to attempting to smuggle more than 90kg of cocaine worth £17m into Australia on a cruise ship.

Isabelle Lagace, 28, from Quebec was arrested in Sydney at the end of a 51-day voyage aboard the Sea Princess. Her friend Melina Romberce, 23, and 64-year-old Andre Tamine were also detained.

Close to 95kg of the narcotic were found by the police during a search of the passengers' cabins when the vessel docked at Sydney harbour on 28 August.

Beginning its tour from Southampton in July, the cruise ship sailed to Canada, the United States, and various parts of South America, including Colombia and Peru before heading for Auckland and then Australia.

Lagace and Romberce posted dozens of photos of themselves on social media seemingly enjoying the £12k pleasure cruise as they took in the exotic locations.

The Australian Border Force said that the trio were part of an international drug syndicate involved in what was the country's biggest ever drugs haul on a boat or plane. According to the Global Drug Survey 2016, which puts the average price of a gram of cocaine in Australia at £150 ($197), the quantity of the drug seized would be worth £14,250,000 ($18,708,112).

The maximum penalty for smuggling a commercial quantity of cocaine in Australia is life imprisonment.

Lagace and Tamine will be sentenced on 3 February Sky News reports. A decision on whether Romberce will stand trial will be made on Wednesday, according to The Daily Telegraph in Australia.