CHINA: Family members of a Colombian model who’s now facing the death penalty in China for drug smuggling are attempting to raise money to find a lawyer for her.
Juliana Lopez, a 22-year-old model and beauty pageant contestant, was arrested after attempting to bring psychedelic drugs through the Guangzhou Airport in Guangzhou province on July 18.
Lopez travelled to China two weeks ago to stock up on clothing and accessories for a fashion store she owns back in Colombia, CRI reports. Her family, after losing contact with her, contacted the Colombian Embassy in Beijing and learned that she’d been detained for drug trafficking.
Lopez played soccer for a local football club back home and worked as a presenter at a local TV station, Xinhua reports, citing Colombian media.
Drug smuggling cases in China usually result in either the death sentence or a lengthy jail term, and defendants rarely get off. Chinese prosecutors will likely hand over the death sentence for an Australian jockey who was caught trying to fly from Guangzhou to Australia with more than three kilograms of crystal meth last year. Diplomates from Paraguay, meanwhile, are still attempting to stop the execution of a 31-year-old Paraguayan woman who’s also facing the death sentence in a Chinese prison following her 2012 arrest for drug trafficking.
