In 24 hours, 19-year-old Michaella went from a barbecue to becoming a drug mule.

On a balmy summer night in Ibiza, in 2013, the evening air pulsed with energy as Michaella McCollum revelled in her youth, unaware that her life was about to take a dramatic turn.

The 19-year-old from a town in Northern Ireland was lured into a world where the promise of partying and adventure masked the lurking dangers. Her carefree holiday would soon spiral into a nightmare.

Fast-forward to today and Michaella's story is being retold in the Netflix documentary High: Confessions of an Ibiza Drug Mule.

Watch the trailer for High: Confessions of an Ibiza Drug Mule here. Post continues after video.

The four-part docuseries delves deep into her harrowing experiences, exploring the stark contrast between the young woman who once danced under the Ibiza stars and who she is now.

At just 20 years old, Michaella — who worked at a bar in Ibiza — was lured into drug trafficking thanks to promises of easy money from a man named Davey, who she says persuaded her to travel to Barcelona to pick up a package for him while she was high on drugs.

In the series, she said she took the psychedelic drug LSD at a barbeque, and that he offered her $5,000. Michaella says she had no idea of the scale of the operation she would become part of.

"He made it sound like a walk in the park," she told BBC in the documentary. "I literally thought a small package of — I obviously thought it was drugs, [but] I definitely didn't think it was going to be anything big."

Before she had time to sober up the following day, she found herself on a plane to Mallorca. And the next stop was no longer Barcelona — it was Peru.

Once in Mallorca, Michaella was introduced to Melissa Reid, a 20-year-old Scottish woman, who she would pick up the drugs with.

"I didn't really know where Peru was but I didn't think it was in South America. I'd never heard of it before. Because I was first told I was going to Barcelona and then Mallorca, I thought that Peru was going to be somewhere in Spain too. I know it's so stupid but I just really didn't know. I hadn't travelled."

Alone with Melissa in Peru, the two women pretended to be tourists for several days to avoid suspicion — until one night, they were delivered over 30 packages of cocaine hidden in porridge sachets.

On the day of the flight, Michaella loaded her suitcase onto the conveyor belt — and for a brief moment, thought she had gotten away with it.

"Then I realised Melissa was being led into a side room by six men wielding semi-automatic weapons. Then the same thing was happening to me," she said.

On August 6, 2013, Michaella and Melissa became the infamous "Peru Two" for attempting to smuggle 12 kilograms of cocaine ($3 million AUD worth) out of Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima, Peru.

Michaella McCollum as she arrives to court in Peru on Tuesday, August 20. Image: AAP.

"The guy started shouting 'coca, coca, coca' and all of sudden the place erupted," she said, recalling the moment an officer sliced open the sachets.

"Everyone was shouting and screaming. I just thought, this is not happening, it's not real life."

Calling her mother from prison to break the news about her arrest was "the worst phone call ever" for Michaella, who later found out her mother collapsed on the spot when she found out.

Both women eventually pleaded guilty and were sentenced to six years and eight months in prison. They served three years in Ancón 2 prison, a harsh environment notorious for violence and overcrowding.

While awaiting trial, Michaella was transferred to Virgen de Fatima prison, where she says cockroaches swarmed her cell.

"I felt my skin was crawling. I went to see the prison doctor; I was really losing it," she said.

She also witnessed bloody attacks, including an inmate who attacked another prisoner with a long needle.

"She just leapt across the table and started attacking this other girl, her blood and hair were everywhere," Michaella said.

Eventually, her anxieties began to settle, and Michaella even started her own business behind bars.

Michaella McCollum and Melissa Reid in court in Peru. Image: AAP.

"I learnt the prison had their very own beauty salon, more like a few chairs and mirrors and a concrete room, but for me it was heaven," she said.

"I got a job and I would do different hair treatments, colouring and cutting, blow-dries, waxing, nails, massage. I had no real qualifications, I was winging it, but I was good at it. I had a lot of clients."

She also taught herself Spanish and made friends with fellow inmates.

Michaella applied for early parole and was released from prison, on March 31, 2016, nearly three years after her and Melissa's arrest.

In the years following her release, she has been vocal about her experiences.

"It was really hard getting back to normal," she told BBC. "When I first got home, everything felt so normal, it was like I'd only been there yesterday. But I didn't feel normal anymore. I didn't feel like the person that they knew.

"Everybody knew who I was and what I'd done, and I was afraid of the judgement. I'm not an awful, dangerous person. I had jobs, but I never made it through more than one shift — they'd say I got too much attention and they'd have to let me go.

"The first university I applied to accepted me, but then withdrew my application because they said I could be a danger to their young students. I felt so downhearted."

Now 30, Michaella is remarkably different from the young woman who was arrested nearly a decade ago.

Michaella McCollum now. Image: Instagram/@michaella_mccollum

Gone are the wild nights of partying in Ibiza; instead, she has embraced motherhood — welcoming two boys named Rafael Genie and Rio Addison.

In 2023, she also graduated from the University of Ulster with a Business Administration degree in Business Management, Marketing and Related Support Services.

Michaella's story serves as a cautionary tale; yet it is also one of redemption.

"I made a mistake, but we all make mistakes. Mine was really bad, but I was young, and I think I've proved that I'm not that kind of person — taking drugs and committing crime after crime. I am really trying," Michaella told the Irish Independent.

"I believe everything does happen for a reason and I feel you have to make it what it is. I could look back and go, 'That was a really horrible time,' or I can look back and go, 'That was really horrible, but good things came out of it.'

"I'm at the place in my life that I am because of that, and I'm the person I am because of that, and I wouldn't change where I am. I wouldn't have my children if it wasn't for that. So I have to be grateful for that experience, even though it was horrible."

High: Confessions of an Ibiza Drug Mule is now streaming on Netflix.

Feature Image: Netflix.