14-year jail term for drug trafficker

Romanian pleads guilty to drug trafficking and avoids trial by jury.

Romanian national, Gabriel Alin Fister was jailed for 14 years and fined €25,000 after pleading guilty to drug trafficking.

Pleading guilty also meant avoiding a trial by jury.

The 29-year-old man who lives in Germany conspired with people in Malta to import around a kilo of cocaine and heroin.

Fister arrived in Malta on a flight from Amsterdam in March 2009. His suspicious behavior attracted the attention of a customs officer who searched his luggage. The drugs were found in a false bottom of his suitcase.

The street value of the drug was of €68,461.

In the same compartment customs officers also found a kilo of 35.4% pure heroin. The drug's value on the streets was €45,000.

Mr Justice Lawrence Quintano handed Fister a 14-year jail term and ordered him to pay €25,000.