PESHAWAR, Feb 9: The special anti-narcotics court on Saturday convicted a Belgian girl of trafficking in narcotics and sentenced her to six months’ imprisonment with a fine of one million rupees.

According to the court ruling, if the convict, Joke Marie Paule Piaree, who has already spent almost six months in prison, could not pay the fine, she will undergo two years’ additional imprisonment.

Piaree was arrested on Aug 17 last year by the Anti-Narcotics Force here at the Peshawar International Airport and 3.5kg heroin was seized from her hand bag.

The 22-year-old girl had gone to the airport to board a Dubai-bound flight.

Under the Control of Narcotics Substance Act 1997, the offence carries the maximum capital punishment or life imprisonment if the seized narcotics exceeds one kilogramme.

Normally, a person, convicted of carrying such quantity of heroin, is either sentenced to life or awarded capital punishment by the trial court.

But in the case of the Belgian girl, the court adopted a lenient view keeping in view her age and due to the fact that she never indulged in such an act in the past.

Two months back, her parents spoke at a press conference here and claimed that their daughter had gone to Spain for studies, where she had been trapped by a group dealing in narcotics.

They said their daughter had been brought to Pakistan by the group, but had been kept ignorant about the “real” reason behind the trip.

There were certain reports that the government of Belgium had called upon the Pakistani government to treat the girl leniently, as she belonged to a noble and prominent family of Belgium and was not a drug trafficker.