Man gets 12 years for trafficking in cannabis

An Egyptian national was yesterday jailed for 12 years and fined Lm15,000 (€34,940) after he admitted to trafficking in almost 14.5 kilogrammes of cannabis two years ago.

Ekramy Fadl Alla Abdel Aziz Mobarak, 32, admitted to conspiring to deal in the drug during what was to be the beginning of his trial by jury.

The bill of indictment, as drafted by the prosecution, outlined how in December, 2005, Mr Mobarak had agreed with other people, including a Maltese man, to sell cannabis that had been imported into Malta illegally.

But on the night between December 21 and 22, 2005, he was apprehended by police and found to be in possession of almost 14.5 kilogrammes of cannabis that was found hidden in his car.

Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono took note of a joint application filed by the defence and the prosecution. In the application they agreed that, should Mr Mobarak file a guilty plea, he ought to be jailed for 12 years and fined Lm15,000. The court also noted that, although Mr Mobarak faced a maximum of life imprisonment, the law allowed the court to hand down a punishment -- ranging between four and 30 years' imprisonment and a fine between Lm1,000 and Lm50,000 - when taking certain factors into consideration. These factors included the age and criminal record of the accused and the quantity of the drugs involved.

The judge also noted that Mr Mobarak had cooperated with the police and helped them in their investigations and also had a clean criminal record.

He also took note of case law and other judgments handed down in similar cases in order to keep a uniformity of judgment.

He ruled that he was satisfied with the sanctions outlined in the joint application and went on to jail Mr Mobarak for 12 years and fine him Lm15,000. The judge instructed that the time the accused spent in preventive custody be deducted from his jail term and ordered the confiscation of his assets.

The head of the Attorney General's prosecution unit, Anthony Barbara, prosecuted.

Lawyer Anglu Farrugia appeared for Mr Mobarak.