Drug trafficker jailed for 11 years, fined €30,000

The Criminal Court has today jailed a Qormi drug trafficker after he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges to avoid a jury trial.

34-year-old Stiano Agius, who had received Lm5,700 in unemployment benefits but lived a lavish lifestyle, avoided a possible life sentence but was handed an 11-year custodial sentence and a €30,000 fine after he admitted to charges of trafficking over 1kg of cocaine, money laundering, unlicensed possession of ammunition, possession of a fake LM10 bill and recidivism as part of a plea-bargaining agreement with the prosecution.

Inspector Dennis Theuma, prosecuting, had told the court how Agius had been caught red-handed in 2007, handing over a package of cocaine to his wife outside their Qormi home. Agius’ wife, Eleanor Tracy Agius, did not file an admission and will be tried by a jury.

The pair had been arrested after a round-the-clock surveillance operation spanning several days observed Agius arriving at his Qormi home in his BMW X5, handing over a package - later found to contain over one kilogramme of cocaine - to his wife, who had emerged from the house seconds later, and driving off.

The police raided the house the next day and apart from the drugs, recovered the package containing cocaine, weighing scales, 24 rounds of live ammunition, together with over Lm33,000 in cash in batches of Lm1,000 from their safe.

Agius had admitted to the police that the consignment of cocaine was the third one he had kept for a Libyan individual who had asked him to keep it for a few days, after which he would collect and pay him Lm1,000. 

Agius had also admitted to knowing that the package contained cocaine.

As the accused had also been previously found guilty of several offences, confirmed by the court of appeal, the court also found him guilty of recidivism.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri defended Agius.