Jurors yesterday unanimously acquitted a Latin American man of conspiring to deal in cocaine in 2006 but his co-accused was jailed for 18 years and fined €20,000.

The proceedings were characterised by exchanges between the defence lawyers and the prosecution, which even led to a shouting match between them and a telling-off by Mr Justice Michael Mallia for appalling behaviour.

Jurors emerged unusually early from deliberations, after just two-and-a-half hours, when compared to the usual five to six after nine days of proceedings. Domingo Navas, 33, of Panama, who has a pending money laundering case, was acquitted but will remain in custody as he has no money to pay his bail bond.

José Pena, 41, from Colombia was found guilty by six votes to three of conspiring to deal in drugs which had been smuggled in by another man, Enrique Martinez Burgoa, 43, from Mexico.

Mr Burgoa was the star witness in the case and helped the police arrest the two men in a drug sting at a Sliema hotel a day after he was caught at the airport carrying 1.5 kilograms of cocaine in his hand luggage.

In the trial, lawyer Joe Mifsud told the jurors his client, Mr Navas, was not to blame because he had simply accompanied his friend Mr Pena who asked him to go along with him to pick something up. The jurors believed this line of reasoning and cleared Mr Navas of the charges.

Lawyer Joe Brincat, for Mr Pena, insisted the prosecution had failed to prove its case because, according to the bill of indictment, the conspiracy to traffic in drugs took place outside of Malta so the prosecution had to prove facts which happened abroad.

Lawyer Nadine Sant from the Attorney General’s Office prosecuted.