Martha Heredia, Dominican singer and winner of the 2009 Latin American Idol is facing scandal after being accused of drug smuggling last week.
According to CBSNews.com, Heredia was arrested last wednesday after Dominican police found heroin hidden inside the singer's shoes as she was about to board a plane from her native Dominican Republic to New York.
CBS further reports that the director of the city of Santiago for the National Drug Control Agency, Frank Duran stated that police found 2.9 pounds (1.3 kilograms) of heroin in the platform heel of three pairs of shoes packed inside the suitcase of the singer. He also said that police ordered Heredia to undergo X-ray tests to see if the singer had any drugs hidden inside her body, but nothing was found.
Duran added that authorities interrogated the 22-year-old in order to determine whether she was working as a mule for a drug-trafficking group.
According to Univision.com, Santiago Judge Deyanira Méndez accepted a request by the Attorney General that the Dominican singer be held in prison up to a year while authorities further investigate her alleged involvement with drug trafficking.
CBS noted that if the singer is found guilty she could spend more than 10 years in prison.
On Tuesday, the singer was transferred to El Centro de Corrección y Rehabilitación (Correction and Rehabilitation Center) Rafey Mujeres de Santiago where she will spend 10 to 30 days under a period of observation and evaluation reported PanoramaDiario.com.
The publication also added that Crismeilis Quezada, director of the CCR, declared that Heredia has undergone medical, psychological and educational evaluations which is the protocol used in the center in order to determine the best form of treatment and rehabilitation of each patient.