Convicted Australian drug trafficker Cassie Sainsbury has shared an eye-opening insight into life inside Colombia's notorious women's prison.
On her first night in a Colombian prison, the South Australian, then 22, suffered a shocking attack.
“The first night, you’re basically put in a cell-like warehouse with inmates who have been there for a while,” she told NCA NewsWire in a wide-ranging interview this week.
“And she had a gang, a girl, and they were stealing things from people who had just arrived and it was very frustrating because I didn't really have anything to be stolen. And I was raped by a girl.
It was a terrible start to what would be a nearly three-year fight for survival in Colombia's notorious El Buen Pastor in Bogotá.
Sainsbury was caught trafficking 5.8kg of cocaine at Bogotá international airport on a flight to Australia in 2017.
She became a media sensation, earning the nickname 'Cocaine Cassie', and now aged 29, she has written a memoir detailing her side of a horrific story.
“I stayed on the good side of the guards,” she said when asked how she managed to survive prison life on a day-to-day basis,” Sainsbury recalled.
“I was a little misunderstood in this sense by my prisoners because I never argued with the guards.
“I've never caused any trouble and you know if they did a search and found prohibited items like phones and things like that it would be the end of the world and I'd say 'well what do you expect, we're not supposed to have them.' It's their job.'
But the specter of violence overshadowed everything, she said.
In one case, Sainsbury said she kicked and screamed to fight off a guard who tried to sexually assault her.
“I was screaming,” she said.
'Then the other guard who was basically watching the door, she didn't do anything until she realized he wasn't going to get anywhere.'
Cassie Sainsbury was caught with 5.8 kilograms of cocaine at Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, Colombia on April 11, 2017.
She has now written a memoir about her time in custody and the aftermath of her crime
One of the guard leaders, a brutal lieutenant, “liked to beat women,” she said.
'By this time he had already hit me twice. Fists, kicks,” Sainsbury said.
'There was a lot of violence on the part of this lieutenant.'
'I tried to report it when I was there and the paperwork got lost.'
Life was difficult in many other ways. The food was “disgusting,” she said, and she became sick from lack of nutrition.
“In fact, we received a lot of spoiled and moldy food to the point where the kitchen was often closed,” Sainsbury said.
'There would be worms and insects. There would be hair. The other inmates serving the food used their hands to serve it.
'I struggled a lot with food to the point where I became very sick.
'There was a shop inside the prison and they sold biscuits and things like that which would give you enough to survive and you would choose what you would eat from the food we were given.
“They were just really small portions too. It was supposed to give you energy for what you needed and that was it.'
The El Buen Pastor women's prison in Colombia. Photo: 60 minutes
Cassandra Sainsbury of Australia arrives for an audience in Bogotá in 2017
Sainsbury said it was unlikely she would ever receive justice for the abuse perpetrated against her at El Buen Pastor, run by Colombian prison agency INPEC.
'When I got out on parole, it was something I wanted to look into and really try to get somewhere with it. I started working at a law firm (Colombian lawyer),' she said.
'We entered INPEC, which administers the penitentiary system.
'And they basically said, 'Prisoners don't have any rights. There are no rights. You are nobody. You go in there, without freedom'.
'(But) you still have basic dignity as a human being in prison.
'Have simple little things that will protect you and keep you safe. Even though you committed the crime, it doesn't mean you have to go through these things.
'It just never went any further. There is a lot of corruption there. They kind of protect their own.
Sainsbury and his partner Tatiana. Photo: Instagram
Sainsbury was sentenced to six years in prison and released in 2020 after serving two years, 11 months and 21 days.
She then spent 27 months on probation in Colombia.
Drug traffickers and wealthy Westerners who roll up dollar bills to snort cocaine from Sydney to London are responsible for the wave of violence plaguing Mexico and Latin America.
Judges, politicians, journalists and tens of thousands of innocent people are murdered year after year because of drug trafficking, and Sainsbury said he felt “self-loathing” about his role in driving this violence.
To help make amends, she said profits from the book would go to three charities: Life Without Barriers, MumKind and Kickstart for Kids.
“This book, sales go to charity,” she said.
“One of them is Vida Sem Barreiras, which has a very good rehabilitation program.
“I'm constantly trying to give back where I can.”
Her story is about redemption and second chances, she said.
The cover of Sainsbury's new book, published by New Holland Publishers. Photo: Supplied
“The book for me was about giving answers and explanations,” she said.
'Finally getting the chance to speak and I really hope the book sheds light on the complex realities of what crime is and what prison life really is and what you can go through.
'I hope anyone who reads it discovers how easy it can be to be manipulated and go down a very destructive path.
'Encouraging others to make better choices and, above all, to see humanity in those who have made mistakes.'
Sainsbury now lives in Adelaide with her Colombian partner Tatiana, who she calls the “anchor in all of this”.
“I was portrayed as such a nasty, horrible person and I just wanted to give people insight into how that really happened and how I ended up there,” she said.
'I'm sorry, but it wasn't intentional at any point.'
Mrs Sainsbury said she had “no relationship” with her mother but had reconciled with her sister.
“She and my nephews are basically my family now,” she said.
“That's who I spend all my time with.”
Her memoir is Cocaine Cassie: Setting the Record Straight, released by New Holland Publishers.
