Trafficking: Drug convict sentenced to life term

Police said they found 24 kilos of heroin, two kilos of opium and a kilo of hashish inside the car.

LAHORE: Additional District and Sessions Judge Safdar Ali Bhatti has sentenced a convicted drug dealer to life in prison. The prosecution said Shaukat Zaman had been arrested on June 17, 2010, after the police stopped his car at Daroghwala Chowk and found 24 kilos of heroin, two kilos of opium and a kilo of hashish inside. Zaman had said in his defence that on the day of his arrest, he was on his way from Rawalpindi to Lahore to buy a rickshaw. He said that the police stopped him and robbed him of close to Rs200,000. He said that they cooked up a false drugs case to get rid of him.The judge also fined Zaman Rs1 million. If he fails to pay the fine, another year will be added to his prison term.

Published In The Express Tribune, June 6^th, 2012.