Czech model convicted in heroin smuggling case

LAHORE: An additional district and sessions court on Wednesday awarded eight-year and eight-month jail to Czech model Tereza Hluskova for trying to smuggle nine kilograms of heroin worth millions of rupees from Lahore to Abu Dhabi.

Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Shehzad Raza also imposed a fine of Rs 113,000 approximately 800 dollars on the convict. In case of default in payment of the fine the convict drug pusher will face further jail.

Earlier, on March 12, the court had reserved the verdict in the case. A large number of media persons and regular litigants were present on the court premises to hear the verdict as the Czech model case had gained a mammoth hype in the masses and media houses due to model’s beauty and TRP value. The deputy secretary of the Czech Republic Consulate was also in attendance in the court at the time of announcement. Tereza Hluskova broke into tears as the judge announced the verdict against her.

As per case details, 21-year-old Tereza Hluskova, in January 2018, was attempting to smuggle heroin from Lahore to Abu Dhabi but intercepted by customs officials. The model was caught after she successfully passed through two Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) checking counters at the Allama Iqbal International Airport. She was heading to Ireland via Dubai. During inspection it revealed that she was carrying 9 kilograms of heroin with her. Czech model was in Pakistan on a three-month family visit visa. After the recovery of drug and completing investigations, Customs department had registered a case against the model and four others.

Three accused in the case were declared proclaimed offenders as the law enforcement had failed to arrest them. An alleged facilitator of the model was arrested namely Tariq. However, the court acquitted him by giving him benefit of the doubt. As per facilitator, Tereza was sent to the country by his brother’s friend and it wasn’t the first visit of Tereza. The model in her statement said that she was here in Pakistan for modeling purposes and did not know who placed heroin in her luggage. More than nine witnesses recorded their statements in the case. The model not only got hyped in media but reportedly was also a source of contention among investigators from three law enforcement agencies including Anti Narcotics Force (ANF), Customs Department and the Airport Security Force as all the agencies wanted the custody of the woman drug peddler, reasons better known to the agencies. However, Customs department refused to hand her over the accused to the ANF and maintained the custody of the woman. Not only this, a youngBulgarian man namely Nikolai Simeonov Ivanov was awarded three years jail by a Czech court in November 2018 over sending messages to a media house in Pakistan threatening to launch terror attacks in Pakistan if the government doesn’t release Tereza Hluskova.The proceedings of the case took more than a year to conclude.