Two men have been jailed a total of 21 years and fined €43,000 after they admitted importing drugs to Malta.

Joseph Camilleri, 56, of Rabat was jailed 12 years and fined €20,000 for importing cocaine and ecstasy worth some €260,000 three years ago.

He imported the drugs from Rotterdam in a Mercedes van which reached Malta from Genoa via Tunis on board the ship Splendid.

The van had 570 grams of cocaine and 21,375 ecstasy pills hidden behind two panels.

In the second case, Dominican Richard Andrews Perez Oberght, 37, who lives in Spain, was jailed for nine years and fined €23,000 for importing 800 grams of cocaine in 80 capsules in his stomach.

He arrived in Malta with his girlfriend Albania Mora Batista, who had no knowledge of the drugs in November, 2009.

The counple flew in from Brussels and were arrested at the Preluna Hotel in Sliema, where they were staying. Ms Batista returned home after testifying.

Mr Oberght had made a deal with a man named Moreno who promised to pay him €4,000 for smuggling the drugs. The drugs were worth €56,000.