What a mess......
To be honest with you, and taking into consideration the fact that it pains you that a friend of yours is in such a mess, she is the same type of person YOU and I criticize so much here on this site. You know, the ones with low self-esteem, looking for love, or lust, at the wrong places, evens if smarter than Einstein.
What happened to your friend is NOTHING new. People have been using "trusting" people to do their "dirty laundry" since the beginning of time.
Perhaps your friend didn't know what she was carrying but there's always 2 version per story: her version, and the real version. I am not saying that she needed to do this selfish act, but there have been MANY cases where people with good jobs, nice homes, money in the bank and living very comfortably, doing the same thing she was caught doing.
A while back I posted about an ex-friend of mine who was VERY well-off (old money), well educated, good job, nice houses, nice car, tons of money in the bank, etc. He was the pride and joy of his family. In one of his trips to the US to visit family members, he got together with some friends and they were caught with cocaine in the car. They were all accused of intention to sell.
He was sentenced to 3 years. After he served his sentence, INS picked him up in prison and deported him to the DR, and his visiting privileges was revoked for life.
Up to this day, he still claims that "I wasn't guilty, it was not my drug, it was my friend's car, I didn't need to sell drug since I have money, I didn't know they had drugs in the car, blah blah blah". That is his story and he is still sticking to it, even after his own cousin (who wasn't involved) told his family that every single time he visited the US, he would seek his shady friends and help them sell drugs for quick cash.
His father is not buying his "not guilty" story. To this day, his father, a very respected and connected person, cut ALL ties with him.
Bottom line is that I would not "put my hand on fire" for a friend, any friend. We may think we know a person but at the end of the day, we really do not know what motivates some people.
Whether the b/f was was a tiguere or not, people shouldn't be so trusting, especially when we read about incidents like this ALL the time.
I always say that there's only a few people who have your best interest at heart, and for that reason, I trust NOBODY when it comes to bringing packages into the DR or into the US for them.
They want me to bring "things" to the DR or US for their loved one, give me cash to bring buddy, and don't put it in an envelope!!.
AZB, your friend WILL serve time, WILL be deported, her visa WILL be revoked, WILL lose her job in the DR, WILL be labeled as a drug mule by her neighbors, family and friends and WILL carry a "Scarlet Letter" for the rest of her life, even if she says she is not guilty.
MANY well-off people have been "singing the same tune" she is "singing". We all know that ALL prisons are full of "innocent" people.
MAYBE she is telling the truth but the fact is that it really doesn't matter anymore.