In two separate judgments handed down by Mr Justice Michael Mallia this morning, two men were jailed for a total of 22 years after admitting to smuggling cocaine into Malta instead of undergoing a trial by jury.

Romanian national Csaba Fazakas, who is 65 years old, was jailed for 14 years, whereas 38-year-old Hungarian national Nemeth Arpad was jailed for eight. Both men had been arrested at the Malta International Airport.

Mr Fazakas had been arrested on 23 April 2011, after he arrived to Malta on a direct flight from Zurich. Customs officials discovered two suspicious packages concealed under a false bottom in the elderly man’s suitcase: these packages were ultimately found to contain over 2.5kg of cocaine with a purity of 30.1% and an estimated street value of €191,862.

Mr Arpad, meanwhile, had been arrested on 18 June 2013 after taking a flight from Madrid. He chose a different method to smuggle the drug, swallowing 57 capsules containing some 600g of cocaine.

During questioning, he had told police that he was paid €700 to smuggle the drug.

Both men were accused of conspiring to traffic cocaine, as well as of the importation and the aggravated possession of the drug.

The judge’s sentences were in line with agreements reached between the prosecution and the defence.

Mr Fazakas was thus jailed for 14 years and fined €30,000, while Mr Arpad was jailed for 8 years and fined €23,000.