A Turkish woman who swallowed 75 capsules of heroin and hid another three inside her to bring into Malta, yesterday said she regretted that she was stupid enough to make “this dangerous mistake” for which she has another five years of prison time left.

Kandemir Meryem Nilguni was testifying in the trial by jury of Mario Borg, who is on trial for drug related charges.

Mr Borg, 31, from Bugibba, is pleading not guilty to the charges of importing heroin, planning to import heroin and possession of drugs that were not for his personal use, between February and April 2003.

Ms Nilguni told the court, presided over by Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono, that she came to Malta in March 2003 because “somebody gave her something to bring to Malta”.

She said she didn’t ask what she was carrying even though she knew it was illegal.

She was shown a photo of the capsules and confirmed that she had swallowed those.

Ms Nilguni said that, in Turkey, she was approached by a person called Kamil and a woman, who asked her to swallow the capsules.

She confirmed that she had been staying at a hotel in St Julian’s, with another Turkish woman called Kucuk Melek.

She told the court that someone called her and she went out of the hotel when she was approached by the accused, who gave her some laxatives to help her body get rid of the capsules.

Ms Nilguni also said that he was driving a white car and was in the company of an Asian woman.

She said that she then went up to hotel room and took the pills. “I managed to get rid of the capsules but my friend was not well and had already been sick on the flight.”

She told the court that they only stayed three days and that even though they received phone calls with instructions from Turkey, the person on the other side spoke to them in English.

After they went back to Turkey, they were asked to transport drugs to Malta again. However, she said that, on their second visit, they were caught by the police.

When asked by the prosecution if she was shown any photos by the police, she said she recognised a man who “resembled the person who gave her the laxatives,” and again identified Mr Borg.

She said that she had been stupid enough to make this “dangerous” mistake for the small amount of $1,500, for which she has to spend another five years in prison.

Police inspector Nezren Grixti told the court that the police suspected that Mr Borg was involved in importing drugs.

He said that the police had found out that two foreign women had arrived in Malta, and were residing in room 830 at a hotel in St Julian’s. He also said that these two women were in possession of drugs, which were going to be picked up by Mr Borg.

On 15 April, he told the court, the police who were watching the hotel observed a white Ford Escort, which was later identified as Mr Borg’s car, driving around the area at around noon.

Insp. Grixti said that the police were informed that one of the women was about to leave the hotel and said that they were instructed to stop her.

When the police searched her bag, they found two plastic bags with 88 capsules of heroin covered in tape – just under one kilo of heroin.

He said that when the police went up to room 830, they found another Turkish woman there.

Insp. Grixti told the court that when the two women were interrogated, they said that this was the second time that they brought drugs to Malta – the first time had been on 3 March.

He explained that the two women were taken to St Luke’s Hospital for X-Rays to make sure that they did not have any more capsules in their body.

In fact, he added, one of the women had another two capsules in her stomach – amounting to a total of 50 capsules of heroin. The women had swallowed the capsules which were wrapped in tape or in a plastic bag and were about 5cm long.

On 16 April, the police interrogated one of the Turkish women, who said that when she came to Malta for the first time she had swallowed 56 capsules, amounting to around 430 grams of heroin.

Insp. Grixti also explained that a person called Kamil and his girlfriend had given her the heroin in Turkey.

The women swallowed the drugs, and were told to pass them on to someone who had a white car and was in the company of an Asian person.

Insp. Grixti told the court that when the police stopped the woman outside the hotel on 14 April, she said that she had swallowed 75 capsules and inserted another three in her private parts.

She also told the police that she had to meet a person in another hotel but did not manage because she was stopped by the police.

The inspector said that when they spoke to the second woman, she told them that she had swallowed 40 capsules. However, during the flight to Malta she felt sick, and as a result, lost a lot of the drugs she had swallowed.

Insp. Grixti said that the two women were shown photos of different people and both recognised the accused.

He told the court that soon after, the police carried out a search on Mr Borg’s residence and found three mobile phones.

On 17 April 2003, the police spoke to Mr Borg who denied everything but confirmed that the white Ford Escort was his car.

However, in his statement, the accused denied knowing the Turkish women, and any involvement in importing the drugs.

Furthermore, he refused to say whether or not he had a drug dependency problem, or had ever taken heroin.

Dr Anthony Barbara prosecuted, while Dr Jose Herrera and Dr Roberto Montalto appeared for the accused.