Seven-year prison sentence for cannabis importer who pleaded guilty to avoid jury

A man who was arrested in 2016 upon his arrival on a flight from Catania, after he was found to be carrying over 2kg of cannabis grass, has been jailed for seven years as part of a plea deal.

Joseph Papa Smith, 42, from Ghana pleaded guilty to his indictment for having imported the illegal drugs and possession with criminal intent, to avoid a trial by jury.

On 13 March 2016, customs officers stationed at the arrivals section at the Malta International Airport, Luqa, stopped Papa Smith who had just landed in Malta from on board flight KM0643 from Catania to conduct a random scan of his luggages after suspecting that he could be carrying illegal substances.

When the customs officers asked the accused about the contents of his luggage, he initially replied that he was carrying food but on seeing that customs officers were proceeding to inspect them, he confessed to be carrying cannabis.

The customs officers conducting the search opened Joseph Papa Smith’s luggage and found a black jacket containing one plastic bag with a set of small weighing scales and other four bags containing a substance which, when tested, yielded positive results for the presence of cannabis. He was then arrested.

Mr. Justice Giovanni Grixti, in view of the man’s guilty plea, jailed Papa Smith for seven years and fined him €15,000.

Lawyers Michael Sciriha and Giannella De Marco were defence counsel.