A 44-year-old man from Sliema has been jailed for two-and-half years after he was found guilty of aggravated possession of heroin.

Magistrate Marseann Farrugia also fined Jason Abela €2,000 after rejecting his version that the heroin was for his personal use since he was a heavy user.

The court heard prosecuting officer Dennis Theuma explain how Mr Abela had been arrested by the Drug Squad police in May 2004 after days of surveillance over possible drug trafficking.

He was seen exiting his block of apartments with his young daughter and tried to escape when he saw the police. As he was running, he discarded several banknotes.

When he was apprehended and searched, the police found three sachets with a brown substance in a packet of cigarettes. The brown substance was found to be heroin.

Moreover, the man was found in possession of almost €900 in cash.

A search at his flat yielded another sachet with similar brown powder, three mobile phones and digital weighing scales.

Mr Abela told the court that he was a heavy heroin user and would consume between 0.5 and one gram of heroin every day, injecting it in his mother's garage.

However, Magistrate Farrugia said the court was convinced that the heroin was not entirely for his personal use so sentenced him to two-and-a-half years in jail and a €2,000 fine.