Peru Two drug smuggler Melissa Reid has split from her backpacker boyfriend who helped turn her life around, MailOnline can reveal.
Former party girl Melissa, 29, fell for Gary Stafford after he trekked to South America and visited her as she languished in a hell-hole jail with her partner in crime Michaella McCollum.
Romance blossomed when Melissa was freed from prison after serving nearly half of a six year sentence for trafficking cocaine worth £1.5 million.
The couple went on to set up home and live quietly in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, where they were often seen out walking their dog together.
A source told MailOnline: ‘Melissa has moved out. They were together for five years but the relationship ran its course.
Melissa Reid, 29, (pictured) was sentenced to six years and eight months in a Peruvian prison in 2013 for trafficking £1.5million worth of cocaine
Melissa Reid (right) became known as a member of the ‘Peru Two’ after being jailed alongside fellow drug smuggler Michaella McCollum Connolly (left)
‘It’s very sad. Gaz really helped her get through the toughest days of her life.
‘He was travelling around South America and heard what happened to her and made contact with Melissa while she was in jail.
‘She agreed to let him visit her and they fell for each other. Melissa has said she did not think she would have got through it all without him.
‘They returned to Scotland after Melissa was released and moved in together. They were very happy.
‘Gaz is very private and has not said why they split up.
‘Although Mellissa has tried to put her past behind her I think Gaz struggled with all the attention surrounding her that still goes on.
‘He knew what he was letting himself in for but I think that probably played a huge part in them separating.
‘I can remember him telling me that quite often when they went for dog walks there would be people taking photos of them. In the end I think it all got too much.’
The source added: ‘It’s a great shame because she has put her past behind her and moved on. She too just wants to live a quiet life and has no desire to be famous on the back of what happened.’
Melissa Reid (right) and Michaella McCollum Conolly (left) were arrested at Lima airport with cocaine in their luggage
Melissa Reid (centre) being escorted through Lima aiport by Peruvian immigration officers after being deported from the country in 2016
After returning home from Peru, Melissa took up a fitness regime and set about dedicating herself to helping others – taking a job working at the Citizens Advice bureau in Glasgow.
She moved in with parents Billy and Debbie before setting up home with civil engineer Gary, 39.
Melissa has now moved back to her home town of Lenzie, six miles north east of the city.
Leaving her flat for work on Wednesday, Melissa looked barely recognisable from her days as an international drug smuggler.
Dressed in navy blue trousers, a navy vest top and trainers and carrying a lunch bag and water bottle, she declined to comment about the split or her past life ahead of the tenth anniversary of her infamous exploits.
A neighbour in the leafy town near told MailOnline: ‘She seems a really nice, cheery girl.
‘She always speaks in passing and is always very polite and by the looks of it she has totally turned her life around.
‘Nobody in the block has ever really spoken about her shenanigans, although everyone knows what she got up to all those years ago.
‘It’s not really something you would bring up in a conversation to be honest.
‘You never really see anyone go in or out of her flat – she did have a boyfriend, but they split up and she obviously decided to move back home closer to her family here in Lenzie.’
Another neighbour added: ‘Melissa is a lovely girl, we speak often – she keeps herself to herself.’
Melissa Reid (pictured) and fellow smuggler Michaella McCollum Conolly gained worldwide notoriety for their attempt to traffic cocaine
Mellissa Reid (left) was spotted with a man in a bar in Edinburgh in 2016 after being released from prison in Peru
Melissa and Michaella gained worldwide notoriety after they were arrested at Jorge Chávez International Airport in the Peruvian capital Lima with 12 kilograms of cocaine hidden in food packets and stuffed into their suitcases.
Melissa worked in clothes store Next after leaving school before saving up to head out to Ibiza in the summer of 2013 for a working holiday with a friend.
She teamed up with Michaella and the pair jetted to Peru from the Spanish holiday island.
The pair cut the drugs with bicarbonate of soda and starch, and concealed them inside porridge and jelly packets to mask the smell of drugs before trying to board a flight to Madrid.
At first they claimed armed gangsters had forced them to carry the stash – but later admitted they had willingly smuggled the drugs for a £4,000 payment.
In an interview following her release, Melissa, who was 19 at the time of her arrest, admitted she had smuggled the drugs for the cash – and the chance to boast about her exploits.
She said: ‘I was taking drugs – ecstasy, ketamine and cocaine – and on a downward spiral and it wasn’t going to end well.
‘In Ibiza there are strong influences and everyone is taking drugs – it becomes completely normal. I got swept up in that.’
Melissa added: ‘I thought it sounded like a challenge and was blasé about it.
‘I was offered £4,000 but it wasn’t just about the money. I had saved up before I left Scotland so I had cash for rent. I didn’t owe any money or anything. I just wanted to be able to boast about it.’
The ‘Peru Two’ were both released in 2016 after spending years in tough South American jails (File photo: Michaella McCollum Connolly (left) and Melissa Reid (right) in court)
Melissa Reid later set up a home in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, after being released in 2016 (File photo: Melissa Reid boards a flight at Lima airport with her father after being deported from Peru)
But she admitted: ‘I honestly think that if I had carried on the way I was going I would be dead right now.
‘I never worried about being caught. I never really thought about what I was doing.
‘I think I wanted to be this big person that I’m not.’
During their time in the Ancón 2 prison, Melissa and Michaella took up coveted training positions in beauty therapy in a bid to become hair stylists.
In contrast to Melissa’s low-key lifestyle, Michaella has courted the spotlight – signing a £25,000-deal for a tell-all book about her experiences entitled You’ll Never See Daylight Again.
In the memoir, Michaella, from Dungannon, Northern Ireland, told how she learned Spanish in order to better get along with other prison guards and inmates – some of whom she describes as ‘psychotic’ and violent.
She signed with the same talent agency as MTV stars and spoke out about her experiences in a five-part BBC documentary series, called High: Confessions of an Ibiza Drug Mule, which is now available on Netflix.
Michaella told how thinking back to her jail time was like trying to recall a whole other life.
She said: ‘When people ask how I feel about it now, it feels like I’m thinking about a different person – I can’t relate to that person now.
‘How was I like that? I just accepted things I didn’t feel comfortable with, but felt too shy to say anything about. Those three years in prison did so much to make me the person I am now, with the mindset and morals I have now.’
The Peru Two were arrested while attempting to smuggle 12 kilograms of cocaine out of Lima airport (File photo: Michaella McCollum Conolly (left) and Melissa Reid (right) walk into court)
Michaella McCollum Connolly (pictured) signed a £25,000-deal for a tell-all book about her experiences entitled You’ll Never See Daylight Again.
Michaella added in a recent interview: ‘I was very naive when I was 19. I didn’t think anything bad could happen to me.
‘I never questioned things, I just believed everything and trusted people way too easily.
‘We shouldn’t be like that, not everybody has got your best intentions, strangers don’t care about you,.’
Michaella, also 29, regularly posts glamorous travel photos and outfit shots on Instagram to her 100,000 followers and occasionally appears on TV shows such as Good Morning Britain to recount her story.
In May 2018 she announced to her social media followers that she has given birth to two boys named Rafael Genie and Rio Addison. The father was a short-term boyfriend from that time, whose identity remains a secret.
DailyMail
