A MODEL broke down in tears today as she was jailed in Pakistan for trying to smuggle £1.1million of heroin into Ireland.

Tereza Hluskova, 22, was sentenced to eight years and eight months after she was convicted of drug trafficking last week.

Some 8.5kg (19lbs) of heroin was discovered inside statues in her luggage as she prepared to board a flight from Lahore to Dubai en route to Dublin.

The Czech national claims she was there on a modelling assignment and did not know there were drugs in her suitcase.

Video of her arrest in January last year showed a customs official “discovering” the drugs in the luggage while Hluskova looked on.

She was seen putting her head in her hands, and later told the camera: “They gave me something for luggage, three statues or something.

"They said it was gifts. I didn’t know there was something inside.”

Authorities allege Hluskova had met a Pakistani man in Manchester, who had set up a fake photography studio.

A customs spokesman told local media: “Once he told Hluskova to visit Pakistan for modelling to promote products of a leading fashion brand, she accepted the offer on the promise of handsome payment.

“She came to Pakistan and resided in Gujranwala for a few days before coming to Lahore airport to fly with the heroin bag given to her.”

Two men were arrested after cops went through her phone contacts and also face trafficking charges, according to reports.

Tereza's story gained international attention when she was pictured smiling and posing for photos with police after she was arrested at the airport.

But her trial was repeatedly delayed and in December she sobbed in court as she was told she faced a further delay.

She has been on bail for the last year but unable to leave the country.

After her sentencing today, lawyer Sardar Asghar Dogar said she would appeal.

Tereza could have faced the death penalty if the amount of drugs was over 10kg.

In a bizarre development in November, a Bulgarian man was jailed for three years and four months in the Czech Republic after threatening terror attacks in Pakistan unless Hluskova was released.

Nikolai Simeonov Ivanov, 21, was found guilty of sending threats by email and text message to a television channel and news website in Pakistan.

He told his trial: “I did not think that anyone would take my messages seriously, especially since I included my telephone number and email address.”

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