A 27-year-old Eritrean man from Rome, Italy, pleaded guilty to failing to declare 77 packets of water-pipe tobacco when flying to Malta.

Inspector Jonathan Ferris Received a call from the Airport customs on October 12, where they stopped a man carrying 77 packets of undeclared tobacco, each weighs around 250 grams adding up to around 19kgs.

The man did not speak Maltese or English, and was on the island through an Italian travel document.

The accused had told the police that he did not know duty needed to be paid on water-pipe tobacco. His luggage only contained three sets of underwear, three shirts, a pair of jeans and a pair of shoes.

He told police that he planned to stay in Malta for three months, possibly extending this to a year if he found a job. He also only had €85 on his person, and asked  how he planned to live on this amount, he said a friend would help him out.

Magistrate Francesco Depasquale sentenced the accused to two months in prison, and fined him €3306.60.