A drug trafficker has been jailed for seven and a half years and fined €23,000 after filing a guilty plea instead of standing trial .

The case dates back to 2013, when Mubarak Bawa, from Niger, who was then 22 years and lived in Gzira, was accused of possession of 372 grams of heroin, and 331 grams of paracetamol and caffeine which are considered to be cutting agents to be mixed with heroin.

A court-appointed expert estimated the haul which had a purity of 22% to be worth €27,100.

The man had also been accused of forging and making use of a false passport and driving a vehicle without a road licence.

In its decision the court presided by Justice Edwina Grima noted that the punishment for such crimes was life imprisonment, but in this case it had to take into consideration that the defendant had collaborated with the police and filed a guilty plea during proceedings in 2014.

Furthermore, after taking in consideration his age, the previous conduct of the accused as well as the quantity and nature of the drug, it concluded that a life term would not be appropriate.

On the other hand the judge pointed out that the accused had conspired with third parties to traffic drugs for his personal profit, and had also agreed to assist in the importation of a second consignment, this time of cocaine.