22 years for drug mules who imported cocaine

A Hungarian drug mule who imported 57 cocaine capsules hidden in his stomach has been sentenced to eight years behind bars and fined €23,000 after a judge found him guilty of importing the drug.

On 18 June, 2013, the accused, 38-year-old Hungarian Nemeth Arpad, arrived in Malta from Madrid, when police and customs officials had received a tip-off that the man was illegally importing drugs.

Upon arriving, the accused was followed and searched by police. Arpad was then taken to Mater Dei Hospital, where he was found to have swallowed a total of 57 drug capsules in his stomach.

The weight of the capsules was around 600 grams.

Arpad, who prior to his arraignment used to live in Spain, had told investigators that he was offered €700 to carry the cocaine to Malta. During interrogation, he admitted to swallowing the cocaine capsules but had pleaded not guilty on his arraignment.

However, prior to the start of his trial, Arpad recanted his plea and admitted to the charges.

65-year-old drug mule jailed 14 years for importing €190,000 worth of cocaine

In another case, a 65-year-old Romanian man was sentenced to 14 years in prison and fined €30,000 after being found guilty of illegally importing €190,000 worth of cocaine in his briefcase.

The court heard how on 23 April 2011, customs officials at the Malta International Airport informed Drug Squad personnel that a Romanian man arriving from Zurich on board an Air Malta flight was found to be in possession of two packages containing cocaine.

Upon arriving at the airport, drug squad personnel discovered that the accused, Csaba Fazakas, had concealed the drugs in his suitcase.

The drugs were later weighed at two and a half kilos, and had a purity of 30.1%. They were valued at €191,862.

During his interrogation, Csaba Fazakas had told police that he agreed to import the drugs in exchange for a “considerable amount of money.” The accused also told police that he agreed with a third party to import the cocaine in Malta, and that he was instructed to stay at a hotel in Malta pending further instructions.

Fazakas then left Romania before travelling to Holland, Bruseels and Zurich, before boarding a plane to Malta.

After police intercepted the drug importation, the accused was arraigned in court and had pleaded not guilty to conspiring and importing cocaine, and of being in possession of the drug. He was subsequently placed under a bill of indictment, but later admitted to the charges rather than standing trial by jury.

In his decree, judge Michael Mallia found the Romanian man guilty of conspiring and importing cocaine, and of being in possession of the drug. Despite Fazakas’s guilty plea, the court noted that this was only registered prior to the start of the trial, and not during his arraignment or compilation of evidence.

In a sitting this afternoon, Judge Mallia sentenced the accused to 14 years behind bars and fined €30,000. Moreover, the court ordered to pay Fazakas to pay the fine within a fortnight, warning him that failure to do so would convert the fine into a one year imprisonment term.

In his decree, Judge Michael Mallia found the man guilty of conspiring and importing cocaine, as well as the illegal possession of the drug, and sentenced Nemeth Arpad to an eight year imprisonment term and fined him €23,000.

The court also ordered that the drugs be confiscated, and Arpad to pay €820 in court costs.

Inspector Herman Mula prosecuted.