A convicted Kiwi drug smuggler serving time in a California jail is advertising for love, friendship and money on the internet.

Kirsty Harris has been jailed after attempting to smuggle 5.8kg of cocaine from South America to Auckland, the New Zealand Herald reports.

The smuggling attempt happened when she was caught on a cruise ship with Tony Wilkinson, her former boyfriend.

This week, Harris has been promoted as a "featured felon" on the Jailhouse Babes website.

She has posted photos of herself and writes: "I am a beautiful, warm, bubbly and sensitive Kiwi that made a terrible mistake and am paying for that mistake with my freedom.

"I love to talk to people and also love having my friends and family around me, so being incarcerated away from them and with not much contact will be hard.

"I am seeking a caring person to help me get through the tough times ahead with correspondence and donations."

She was sentenced in May to three years and one month in prison and is currently serving time in the low security Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Dublin, California.

Canterbury University criminologist Greg Newbold told the Herald living in a US prison is tougher than life inside here.

"There you are doing hard time. Prison authorities are a lot more authoritarian and officious. You are a number and you are treated like a number," Newbold told the Herald.