A MARLBOROUGH woman nicknamed the ‘Barbie bandit’ has been accused of being part of a gang which raided luxury homes in Argentina, but her family say she has been arrested by mistake.

Georgia Wawman, 26, is said to have been held at gunpoint with her two-year-old son after police raided her 32-year-old ex-boyfriend Jose Mino’s home, where she was staying, last week in Manzanares, near the capital Buenos Aires.

Ms Wawman, who grew up in Marlborough and is thought to have moved to Argentina two years ago, is under investigation for allegedly being an accomplice to the group.

However her family insist she is completely innocent and was the victim of anti-English abuse.

Her stepmother Laura Pereira de Mello has released a statement to local media in Argentina proclaiming her innocence and accusing police officers of mistreating her.

“The police mistreated her in the most terrible way,” said Ms de Mello. “They insulted her and an official sang her a song about the Falkland Islands which really intimidated her.

“Then a doctor checked her and discovered she had high blood pressure and told the police she needed to rest. However they made her stand up for two hours, handcuffed, with her face against a wall.”

Ms de Mello, an investigative journalist and television producer, also said Miss Wawman was only caught up in the police raid because she was staying overnight with her son and Mr Mino, from whom she has separated, at his flat last Thursday, adding: "The search warrant was for her ex-boyfriend, not her."

She also said that officers broke down the door of the property in the neighbourhood of Manzanares at 5am and pointed guns at Miss Wawman as she slept beside her son.

An email sent to the Spanish-language news site Clarin, believed to be sent by Ms de Mello, read: “After a short while the police said they were very sorry and there had been a mistake. Then they told her she had to accompany them to the police station to sign some forms.”

The email claimed that Ms Wawman had her iPad and her phone confiscated by police and wasn't allowed to make any calls.

Mr Mino's family said the allegations against him and Miss Wawman were 'completely wrong'.

Local reports today confirmed Mr Mino was the intended target of the raid and said Miss Wawman had been arrested on suspicion of being an accomplice.

Argentinian news reports say that during raids to arrest the alleged gang members, police seized a huge haul of goods, including laptops, jewellery, watches and cameras. They also found weapons and ammunition, as well as walkie-talkies, a wig, handcuffs and a balaclava.

Police said the group dressed as officers to avoid detection as they looked for homes to target in gated communities in the north of Buenos Aires.

Mr Mino and five other Argentinian men, aged 19 to 44, including a 22-year-old horse trainer nicknamed 'The Dog', and a 31-year-old woman from Paraguay were also arrested.