A heroin trafficker was yesterday jailed for 14 years and fined €30,000 after plea bargaining that saw him admit to importing seven kilos of the drug.

Silvio Buttigieg, 58, of Cospicua, also known as Iż-Żingla, who is well known to the police drug squad, was caught red-handed shortly after having offloaded the drugs from a cabin cruiser in Marfa on June 6, 2005. With him were 38-year-old Jason Said, of Fgura and the boat’s owner, Angelus Vella, 58, of Cospicua, who are both awaiting trial.

Mr Justice Lawrence Quintano, who as a magistrate used to handle drug cases, decided to hear the evidence of Police Superintendent Norbert Ciappara behind closed doors before accepting the agreement struck by the Attorney General and the defence within the framework of plea bargaining.

In an unusual move, the judge ordered that a copy of the transcript of the evidence be placed in a sealed envelope that should only be opened either by himself or by a member of the judiciary presiding over a case arising from this one.

During the compilation of evidence before the Magistrates’ Court, Mr Ciappara had given a detailed account of how the men were caught in a roadblock shortly after the drugs had been delivered on a cabin cruiser.

The officer, who was an inspector at the time, said the police were tipped off about the time Mr Buttigieg would be driving through the Ċirkewwa area in a Toyota van. They had even been told that Mr Said would be in the same area driving a Pajero jeep and that Mr Vella had been seen on his cabin cruiser, at the Marfa quay, handing a white bag to Mr Said.

A roadblock was set up and Mr Ciappara told officers to stop any Pajero or Toyota vehicles. As the two cars approached the roadblock, the Pajero driven by Mr Said was stopped but the Toyota, driven by Mr Buttigieg, sped away and was stopped later by the police in the Għadira area.

Officers were ordered to arrest Mr Vella, who had berthed his cabin cruiser and had approached the police to see what had happened.

Officers searched the Pajero where they found $115,900 and €4,300 in cash. Another search in the Pajero, this time by a court expert, travel-related receipts were found.

When they searched Mr Said, the police found Lm34 in old currency and €1,350.