Updated 7.15pm - Added cross examination

A drug courier who led police to a man facing charges for conspiracy to import cocaine into Malta today told a court how he had lured into the crime following a life of hardship. 

Attila Somlyai, now 30 and serving sentence at Corradino Correctional Facility over his involvement in the conspiracy, was this afternoon produced as the star witness by the prosecution in the trial by jury of Nigerian national Ikechukwu Stephen Egbo, 38, the intended consignee of the drug.

A Romanian orphan abandoned at a train station at the age of three, Mr Somlyai had in November 2010 landed in Malta from Düsseldorf with 60 capsules of cocaine inside his stomach.

He was arrested and subsequently cooperated with police in the course of a controlled delivery outside a Sliema hotel, where he was to meet the accused.

The visibly emotional witness recalled how as a 24-year old living alone in Romania he had been approached by a Nigerian who had offered him a job. He did not know this man who lived in Holland by name, but only referred to him as the “boss” or “chief”.

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Paying for the young man's trip to Amsterdam, it was only when the two met there that the “boss” told him what the job was all about. He had to swallow drug-containing capsules and deliver them across Europe.

Mr Somlyai said he was initially reluctant to accept, but the prospect of making some fast money was too tempting to resist. Besides, he was assured that the capsules were secure and posed no health threat.

He explained how he had travelled from Amsterdam to Düsseldorf and then taken a flight to Malta, where he was to proceed to the Roma Hotel where he would be met by a Nigerian man. This plan was successful in October 2010 when the courier had delivered 28 capsules on his first visit to Malta.

However, he was unlucky the second time round, since during his next assignment in November 2010 he was intercepted by police and taken to Mater Dei hospital. X-rays had revealed the capsules inside his stomach.

Two statements which he had given to the police after having been released from hospital were read out today in open court confirming the version given by the witness in his deposition.

'If you are guilty you run'

The man also testified how on the November evening when he had accompanied the police on the controlled delivery, he had spotted the accused seated on a bench close to the hotel. Upon approaching, the man motioned to the courier to follow him.

Heading towards a nearby supermarket, the consignee had entered followed by Mr Somlyai. Shown CCTV footage retrieved from the supermarket, the witness identified a man in white sweater, jeans and white shoes as the Nigerian man who was to take delivery of the drug. It was also the same man who had taken delivery of the drug on the first consignment in October.

At one point, the accused had suddenly run out of the supermarket, the witness recalled. “If you are guilty you run,” the man remarked.

Asked by the prosecution whether he could identify the same man in court, the witness hesitantly turned and pointed his right hand at the accused, seated in the dock.

Under cross-examination, the witness insisted that although he had never taken drugs himself he had agreed to act as courier only for the money. He was allegedly promised €15 for every capsule delivered which totalled €900 for the November job.

After his arrest, Mr Somlyai had declared to the police that he was sorry for what he had done and that he did not wish to go to prison. He had collaborated with the police who had explained that it would benefit him to do so.

Cross examination

Under cross-examination, Mr Somlyai explained that after the supermarket episode he had returned to the hotel with the police and called the “boss” to inform him that the Nigerian had not come for the drug.

He was told to release the capsules and then swallow them again.

Questioned as to why he ran such a risk in order to hand over the drugs to a person he did not even know by name, the witness said that the “boss” had told him there would be just one man sitting on the bench. He also said he had recognised the accused from his hairstyle and face, having met him on his first visit.

Pointing out that the CCTV footage played in court had shown the accused walking calmly out of the supermarket, Mr Somlyai said that the accused had only started running once he was outside the store. 

Earlier in the morning, an interpreter testified how in November 2010 he had been appointed by investigators to assist Mr Somlyai. At the time, Mr Somlyai could only utter a couple of words in English.

The courier had spoken to someone over the phone in a language which the interpreter did not understand, then relayed the conversation to the interpreter in Romanian who, in turn, translated it to the police in English.

Madame Justice Edwina Grima is presiding over the jury. Lawyers Simon Micallef Stafrace and Mark Sant are defence counsel. Lawyer Giannella Busuttil from the AG’s office is prosecuting.

The trial continues.