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The destination was Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Because of Lia's natural skin coloring, the U.S. contact felt it was perfect—Lia would blend in with people easily, not arousing undue suspicion. The amenities were just as Cindy described, but after a week in her five-star hotel, Lia was spending most of her time in bed-fighting nausea and a fever. Because of her unexpected illness, the quick in-and-out-of-the-country job was turning into a two-week stay. Enough time for her to reconsider what she was about to do.

"I decided I didn't want to do it. I hadn't received the heroin yet from the dealer, so if I could sneak out of the hotel without him knowing, I could get to the airport, fly home, and that would be that."

The next evening, two-and-a-half hours before her plane was scheduled to leave, Lia slipped down a service stairway clutching her plane tickets and passport. "When I opened the door at the bottom, I was in the lobby! A bellboy rushed over to help, drawing attention to me. At that moment, Tony, the dealer, walked into the hotel and saw me."

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

"It's over. It's not going to happen," Lia said, trying to get by. "I'll miss my plane."

Grabbing her tickets and passport, he sneered, "It's happening. Come with me." Hailing a taxi, they arrived at his hotel and he quickly hustled Lia to his room. Ignoring her protests, Tony handed Lia a package of heroin and showed her how to slip it flat under a girdle. Then they left for the airport.

Under his watchful eye, Lia easily walked through the metal detector, but her heart beat faster when she saw everyone undergoing body checks. "I almost got away when they weren't looking. But I was stopped, searched, and when they found the heroin, I immediately said, 'That's not mine! Please take it! I don't know what it is or how it got there! It's the last day on my 15-day visa and … '"

"You don't need a visa to go to jail, young lady," was the cold response. Dragged through the crowd by a rope tied between her cuffed hands, the police began non-stop questioning. It would last five days.

At the police station, Lia tried to cooperate. The police promised to release her if she could lead them to the drug dealer, but she didn't know anything except where Tony was staying. At his hotel, Tony's bags were still in his room and heroin powder was everywhere. Not surprisingly, he was gone.

But the next day, he was arrested trying to escape across the border. Lia was asked to identify him.

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