Two men have been jailed for a total of 17 years and fined €45,000 after they admitted to cocaine and heroin trafficking in 2007.

Duncan Scerri, 38, of Salina, and Walid Laouini, a 35-year-old Tunisian who lives in St Paul’s Bay, chose to admit to the charges rather than stand trial by jury.

The police said they had seized close to a kilo of cocaine after searching the men’s vehicle at the Luxol grounds at the end of an operation that had been going on for several weeks.

According to the bill of indictment, the drugs were 57.3 per cent pure and were worth about €70,000.

Mr Scerri was jailed for nine years and fined €25,000 while Mr Laouini was sentenced to eight years in jail and fined €20,000.

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