Briton accused of drug importation was to be given £20,000 commission

The man who with his girlfriend was arrested on suspicion of bringing in three kilogrammes of cocaine and 7,100 ecstasy pills to Malta told police his girlfriend was not involved in the drug running and that he had made the arrangements himself.

Gregory Eyre said he knew he was bringing in cocaine but had no knowledge of the ecstasy pills found by police in his suitcase, Inspector Neil Harrison told Magistrate Tonio Micallef Trigona.

He testified in the compilation of evidence against the English couple living in Spain, Eyre, 34, and Susan Molyneaux, 29, who are charged with cocaine and ecstasy possession, importation and conspiracy.

Eyre is pleading guilty to the cocaine charges but not to the ecstasy charges, while Molyneaux is pleading not guilty to all the charges.

Inspector Harrison said the police were tipped off that a couple arriving on a transit flight from Spain were planning to bring in drugs but the police did not know whether the transit airport was to be Milan, Rome or Gatwick.

On August 11 there were flights from Gatwick and Rome and the police kept an eye out for passengers.

When Eyre and Molyneaux were stopped, Eyre was heard saying: "F***, f***, f***". The luggage was opened and the drugs were found in a suitcase which Eyre told police was his.

Questioned by police, he claimed someone was waiting for him at arrivals with his name on a placard but the police went to check and found no one.

He was also asked who had given him the drugs and he mentioned a Dominic Cassar but the police later learnt that Dominic Cassar was Eyre's father's name and that he was dead.

Inspector Harrison explained that when the police came across the gift-wrapped packages in Eyre's suitcase, they asked him what they were and he claimed they were presents.

He eventually asked to change his version of events and admitted he had brought in the cocaine knowingly but that he knew nothing of the ecstasy.

Eyre explained that the drugs were handed to him in Spain by someone who had been exporting drugs to Malta every month for the last 15 years and that he did not pack them himself but simply called an apartment in a complex and the luggage was sent down by lift.

The drugs were destined for someone who lived in St Julian's.

He was to be given £20,000 commission in Spain on August 17 and Lm2,000 by the Maltese buyer plus some spending money.

Eyre told police his trip had originally been planned for July 19 but that it was cancelled because the seller in Spain had been under investigation.

His job was to deliver the drugs and collect the money and take it back to the seller in Spain. He had brought his girlfriend with him so that he would look less suspicious but he did not tell her what he was carrying in his luggage.

Molyneaux said she lived with Eyre and that she had an idea he was bringing in something illegal but thought he was trying to evade tax on currency. She had no idea he was carrying drugs.

At the end of the sitting, Magistrate Micallef Trigona ruled there were enough reasons to indict the couple.

The case continues.