Two men were yesterday jailed for 26 years between them and fined a total of Lm38,000 after admitting, rather than facing a trial by jury, to their involvement in drug-related crimes.

The men are Algerian national Blgacem Merabet, 27, and Libyan national Khaled Elhadi Elbizanti, 33. Both men pleaded guilty to the charges brought against them, thereby averting a trial by jury.

Merabet was accused of conspiracy to import more than a kilo of heroin in April 2005, which has a street value of more than Lm26,000. He also pleaded guilty to heroin trafficking, its possession and possession of a fake passport.

In his submissions on punishment, lawyer Malcolm Mifsud said his client should benefit from a reduction in the jail term because of his early guilty plea and because he had cooperated with the police during their investigations. He pointed out that the kilogram of heroin found in his possession had a purity of only 29.7 per cent.

Handing down his judgement, Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono said that the maximum punishment for such a crime is life imprisonment but this can decrease according to the court’s considerations.

Mr Justice Galea Debono remarked that the amount of heroin imported was “considerable” and added that the early guilty plea, the time the accused spent in preventive custody and his police record had to be take into consideration.

He therefore jailed him for 14 years, from which the time he spent in preventive custody should be deducted, and fined him Lm20,000, which would be converted into an extra 18 months in jail if not paid. He also ordered the confiscation of all his assets and ordered his deportation after serving his jail term.

In the second case, Elbizanti was accused of importing heroin on a flight from Tripoli in February 2006, conspiring to import drugs into Malta and possession of heroin with intent to traffic it.

Lawyer Malcolm Mifsud, in his submission on punishment, said that his client should benefit from a reduction in his jail term because he had filed an early guilty plea, had cooperated with the police and had only accepted the job to import the drugs because of financial problems due to an illness in his family. He said the heroin imported only had a purity of 22 per cent.

Dr Aaron Bugeja, from the Attorney General’s Office, who prosecuted, said that although the defence was claiming that he had only accepted the job because of personal problems, at the end of the day it was he who had accepted.

Handing down his judgement, Mr Justice Galea Debono said that this crime carries a maximum punishment of life behind bars and a fine of between Lm1,000 and Lm50,000.

After taking into consideration the quantity and quality of the imported heroin, the fact that he had filed an early guilty plea and the fact that he had imported a considerable amount, he jailed Elbizanti for 12 years, less the time he spent in preventive custody, and fined him Lm18,000, which would be converted into an extra 18 months in jail if not paid.

Similar to the other accused, he also ordered the confiscation of all the accused’s assets and ordered his deportation after serving his jail term.