Man admits to trafficking, gets 20 months in prison

Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras yesterday sentenced a Serbian national to 20 months' imprisonment and fined him €1500 after he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking.

29-year-old Milos Peris, a Serbian-born resident of St. Julians, had admitted before the court that the drugs, which included cannabis and magic mushrooms as well as heroin, were not solely for his personal use. The accused had admitted to trafficking in his initial statement.

Inspector Nikolai Sant testified that three packets of cannabis, a plastic bag with 17 grams of white powder, a “small amount of magic mushrooms” and €6300 in cash were found on his person.

The court felt that, in spite of a request by the prosecution for an eight-month sentence as well as Peris’ early guilty plea, a longer sentence was in order. However, the link between the cash and Peris’ trafficking activities had not been proved to the satisfaction of the court, which ordered the money be returned to the accused.