An American Jailed in Bangladesh

In early 1992, 18-year-old Lia McCord got an offer she couldnt refuse.: Go to Bangladesh, pick up some packages and return home to Texas with $20,000. Simple. However, the packages were in fact heroin and her contact was violent and controlling. Following a botched escape from her hotel McCord was arrested at Zia International Airport in Dhaka with 7 lbs. of heroin strapped to her body. It was then that her descent into hell really began. She narrowly escaped the death penalty, but was sentenced to 30 years. As a model prisoner, she came to the attention of Congressman Bill Richardson, who appealed to the President of Bangladesh. It was successful, and she was released in July 1996. She now lives and works near Washington DC.

Watch her story here from National Geographic: