Norman Bezzina, 56, from Żebbuġ, was this afternoon jailed for 18 years and fined €40,000 after a jury found him guilty by a 7-2 margin of conspiring to import 2.2 kilos of cocaine sent through the post from Canada in April 2001. He was also convicted of drug possession.

Prosecutor Aaron Bugeja had argued that Mr Bezzina was the mastermind behind the cocaine importation, which involved seven other persons - one of whom pleaded guilty and is serving a nine-year jail term.The police had intercepted a package containing cocaine. They substituted it and then monitored its movements, filming some of the people who picked it up.

Defence lawyers Emmanuel Mallia and Arthur Azzopardi, claimed the main witnesses were all inconsistent and lied.

Dr Mallia referred in particular to the testimony of Simon Xuereb, who claimed Mr Bezzina had approached him to begin importing drugs. The lawyer said if one were to carry out a lie detection test on this witness, the machine would explode.

Mr Bezzina in his evidence before the jurors said his only connection to drugs was that he was in the team which helped set up the Sedqa agencym which helps drug addicts. He at the time was a consultant in the Ministry of Social Policy after having returned to malta from Canada, where he had lived.

In rebuttal, Dr Bugeja told the jurors not to miss the wood for the trees and to look at the whole picture, which pointed towards Mr Bezzina’s guilt.

When one looked back at the trial, the defence did a good job of painting the witnesses as inconsistent, as liars and as conspiring against the accused, he said. However, there was no reason for the witnesses to tell lies about the facts of the case, especially about the details, and this was where the prosecution had proved its case according to law.

The judgement was handed down by Mr Justice Michael Mallia.