A Bulgarian boy of 17 was yesterday jailed for 18 months for cultivating seven cannabis plants at a St Paul’s Bay apartment and his father and stepmother have also been arrested over the drug bust.

On a day in which three other Bulgarians and a Russian were convicted on similar charges, investigators said they suspected the parents knew all about their son’s illicit activity.

The boy, whose name cannot be published because he is underage, appeared before Magistrate Doreen Clarke and pleaded guilty to cultivating the plants, trafficking cannabis and possessing the drug in circumstances denoting it was not for his personal use.

The plants were found in an apartment in Triq it-Turisti in St Paul’s Bay during the course of a drug investigation.

When the lad was asked by the magistrate whether he wanted to consult an adult before filing a guilty plea, since this would mean being sent straight to jail, he said he wanted to speak to his biological mother in Bulgaria.

The boy was informed he had to speak to somebody in Malta and the question was repeated. He replied that he would speak to his mother from jail and re-fused to consult anyone before pleading guilty.

He was sentenced to 18 months in jail and fined €500.

In a separate case, another two Bulgarian nationals, Yuliya Georgieva Naydenova, 19, and Todor Tsankov Yordanov, 25, both living in St Paul’s Bay, were also charged with cultivating cannabis plants and being in possession of cannabis.

The woman was jailed for a year and fined €500 while the man, who was also charged with importing cannabis seeds into Malta, was jailed for 15 months and fined €700.

Russian national Nikolay Antonov Soserov, 28, also from St Paul’s Bay, was charged with cannabis trafficking and possession of cannabis in circumstances denoting it was not for his personal use. He pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to a year in jail and fined €500.

The last Bulgarian man arraigned in court yesterday was 26-year-old Daniel Rusenov Rusev, who also resides in St Paul’s Bay. He was charged with cannabis trafficking and possession.

He was spared jail but fined €700 after the prosecution informed the court that the trafficking was actually sharing.

Police Inspector Jesmond Borg prosecuted while lawyer Renzo Porsella Flores appeared for the accused as legal aide.

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