A Czech woman was this morning jailed for eight years and fined €20,000 after admitting to the importation of almost one kilogram of cocaine which was found hidden in her stomach and her underwear. 

Lucie Azuka, 24, admitted to importing the cocaine with a total street value of almost €60,000 in July 2013. 

Before Michael Mallia, Ms Azuka opted to plead guilty to the charges brought against her rather than face a trial by jury. 

The court heard how Ms Azuka had been intercepted at Malta International Airport on her arrival on a flight from Spain on July 13, 2013. Drug Squad police were informed by customs officers that a passenger who had just arrived on a Ryanair flight from Madrid was found to be carrying capsules inside a condom and hidden in her underwear. Further medical examinations revealed more capsules hidden in her stomach. The police found a total of 73 capsules containing 902 grams of cocaine. 

Police investigations revealed that the woman had reached an agreement to import the drug into Malta and hand it over to two men, a Maltese and a Nigerian, on her arrival. These had also been arrested. 

The investigations also revealed that the woman had twice before imported drugs into Malta and this delivery had gone undetected in December 2012 and again a week before her arrest when she had managed to deliver a total of 142 capsules. 

It resulted that she was paid considerable sums of money for her involvement. 

Mr Justice Mallia accepted the plea bargaining agreement between the prosecution and the defence and condemned her to eight years in jail and a €20,000 fine.