A Melbourne woman has revealed the heartbreak of taking her first international flight not to a tropical beach holiday she once imagined - but instead to visit her mother in a foreign prison.
Debbie Voulgaris, 58, is serving 15 years for drug smuggling after being caught with Class A drugs worth $1.9million at Taoyuan International Airport in Taiwan on December 10, 2023.
Now Ms Voulgaris's daughter Maria and her siblings make regular trips to Taiwan to spend time with her after she narrowly avoided the death penalty.
The mother-of-five had never been in trouble with the law and initially 'vehemently denied' knowing the drugs were there, later pleading guilty in a bid to avoid being executed.
Ms Voulgaris still claims she is innocent and believes she was set up by African scammers who were communicating with her ex-husband.
