Colombian beauty
queen, 23, is sentenced to 15 years in prison for drug smuggling after being
caught carrying cocaine inside her laptop
A 23-year-old Colombian
model was sentenced to 15 years in prison yesterday and ordered to pay a fine
of 20,000 yuan (£2,284) after being caught carrying cocaine in Guangzhou,
China.
Juliana Lopez, winner of a Colombian beauty pageant, seemed to
have the world at her feet, running a trendy boutique and hosting a television
show as well as being a well-known professional football player.
She was allegedly on her way to buy items for her shop on July 18,
2015, when she was discovered at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport with
the powder inside a plastic bag, hidden inside her laptop.
Chinese media have reported
that she was carrying 610 grams of white powder which when tested was 49
percent cocaine.
She was sentenced to 15 years in prison for drug smuggling and
ordered to pay a fine of 20,000 yuan (£2,284) by the Guangzhou Intermediate
People's Court on July 25, according Chinese state-run media.
When Ms Lopez was first arrested, it was thought that she could
face a death penalty.
The court verdict stated that she had 'pleaded guilty to a good
attitude', said Chinese state media.
Ms Lopez was given the
lowest sentence possible.
According to section seven of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China,
those found trafficking drugs into the country can be sentenced to 15 years
imprisonment, life in prison or the death penalty.
Upon finishing her sentence, she is required to leave China
straight away.
The authority has also confiscated her drug, luggage, laptop,
mobile phones and £776 in cash, the report said.
At the time of the
incident, Ms Lopez had won the Miss Antioquia beauty pageant and was going
to participate in the Miss World Medellin competition.
Her family claimed that she had vanished after she left for
China.
She apparently flew into the airport in the city of Guangzhou and
it was then that she lost contact with her.
It's been believed that she had been on her way to buy items such
as shoes, clothes and other accessories for her shop.
Ms Lopez had been to China before to purchase items for her
business.
According to the People's Daily
Online, Ms Lopez had confessed that she was asked by a man called
Sergio to take the drugs with her to China.
She had reportedly told the court: 'I want to participate in the
Miss World competition and needed money so he lent me £2,500 in return for me
taking the laptop to China.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/
No comments:
Post a Comment