A 23-year-old woman from the Dominican Republic who was arrested for drug trafficking in 2009, had told the police that she had not known anything about drugs found in her luggage, and she had come to Malta to prostitute herself.

Sugeidy Margarita Novas Castillo, who lives in Barcelona, was arrested after a flight from Brussels when a kilo of heroin was allegedly found hidden in a false bottom of her suitcase.

The police told the court that the drug was detected when the suitcase was inspected through an X-Ray machine.

She was pregnant when she came to Malta and gave birth while behind bars.

The woman is pleading not guilty to importing drugs, association to traffic drugs  and being in drug possession. The drug, found in two packets, was estimated to have a street value of over €45,000. 

According to the charges, the accused linked up in Amsterdam with two men from Ecuador who gave her the drugs to carry to Malta. The drug was then meant to be picked up by another person from a hotel room in Malta.

The Attorney General is seeking life imprisonment and a fine for the accused.