Indonesian women jailed in Pakistan

Indonesian women jailed in Pakistan

PAKISTAN: A Pakistani court jailed two Indonesian women for seven years each for trying to smuggle heroin into neighboring China, a court official said on Wednesday.

Maryam Afiatin and Christine were arrested in October 2004 at a checkpoint on Pakistan's northern border with China when the former was found carrying 2 kg of heroin and the latter 1.8 kg.

"Both the convicts were also fined 100,000 rupees (US$1,700) each," said Mohammad Sharif, a prosecutor in the remote northern town of Gilgit. The verdict was handed down on Tuesday and announced in writing on Wednesday.

Pakistan is a major conduit for heroin flowing out of neighboring Afghanistan, the world's main producer of opium, from which heroin is refined. -- Reuters