This is not a story of a “sugar daddy”, but rather that of a young woman, without a plan B, who agreed to smuggle drugs abroad to build a new life.
• Read also: Arrested and imprisoned in Australia: Isabelle Lagacé confides in “Cocaine, prison and likes”
• Read also: Mélina Roberge: her taste for luxury led her to prison for five years
Isabelle Lagacé, who was convicted of trafficking and importing drugs into Australia, recounts with lucidity and aplomb what really happened on board the “Sea Princess”, in the new documentary series “Cocaine, prison & likes : the true story of Isabelle”.
Cut into three episodes, Crave’s miniseries tackles the many facets that led this girl from a good family to agree in 2016 to move cocaine via a luxury cruise – apparently popular with octogenarians.
Tired of asking for help, the woman, now 34, was offered window dressing: $100,000, a 49-night five-star cruise and full debt relief. An opportunity that would have allowed him to restore his credit screwed up after a toxic relationship and bankruptcy, to get out of the world of bars and to launch a pho soup restaurant open 24 hours.
“A girl who finds herself in this situation is multi-factorial,” the director of the miniseries, Sébastien Trahan, reminded the media on Monday.
With this in mind, the documentary delves in detail into the story of Isabelle Lagacé, while tracing the thread of the events that led to her arrest, from her past to the aftermath, to the person she became. It focuses on the sometimes placid testimonies of the young woman, supported by those of her father Jacques, her friends, an ex-spouse and journalists who covered the case.
It took three months to convince Mr. Lagacé to participate in the project, which lasted about five and a half months, with a stop in Australia, said the director.
“Father, I waited until the very end [pour le convaincre]. He too was very pissed at the negative media attention and people’s comments following the arrest. He did not agree that I participate in the project, but […] the human side of the documentary reassured him, he then accepted”, confided Isabelle Lagacé.
Do useful work
For the young woman, the documentary is an opportunity to set the record straight and tell what led her to make these choices, in the hope of helping those who might find themselves in the same situation, she explained, probably transformed by the prison where she was held for four and a half years.
“It’s not easy to get out of prison and start a new life, but it is possible,” she said.
Two separate projects, two separate girls
Despite what you might think, it’s not a great story of friendship that led Isabelle Lagacé and Mélina Roberge in the same boat. They shared good times on board the cruise, admits Ms. Lagacé in the documentary, but nothing more.
The two women were drawn into crime in completely different ways. And if Isabelle admitted her guilt in front of the Australian justice, Mélina Roberge, who shared the same cabin, had initially denied everything in block, although today she recognizes her wrongs.
The latter to publish her version of the facts in the book “Without filter”, launched in September. However, she declined the production’s requests to participate in the documentary.
The series “Cocaine, prison & likes: the true story of Isabelle”, will be available on Crave on Friday, in French and English.