A Turkish man was yesterday jailed for 12 years and fined Lm12,000 after pleading guilty to conspiring to import drugs into Malta and importing over 10,000 ecstasy pills in April 2005.

Kamil Kurucu, 46, filed a guilty plea at the beginning of his trial yesterday week instead of facing a trial by jury.

Conspiring to import drugs and importing drugs into Malta carries a maximum punishment of life behind bars but Kurucu benefited from a decrease in punishment due to his clean criminal record and also due to the fact that he filed an early guilty plea at the beginning of his trial.

Handing down his judgement, Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono said the accused could not benefit from further decreases for helping the police with their investigations because it resulted that the information he provided did not lead to the identification of the person who handed over the pills to bring to Malta and neither the recipient of the pills in Malta.

Mr Justice Galea Debono said the only details the accused supplied was a first name and an approximate age and this did not lead the investigators to the supplier of the pills in Turkey.

The judge also commented on the effect these pills could have had on the Maltese population had they not been intercepted by the police and customs officer and the “havoc” they would have created.

He said the accused abused of the hospitality of the Maltese people who welcomed him to the island.

Mr Justice Galea Debono jailed Kurucu for 12 years and fined him Lm12,000 which if not paid within 15 days will be converted to a further 18 months in jail. He also ordered him to pay Lm800 in court expenses.

Following his guilty plea last Monday, Kurucu’s wife took the witness stand and explained how she married her husband at the Corradino Correctional Facility while he was in jail awaiting his trial. She told the court that she loved her husband and was “willing to stand by his side”.

The 10,006 ecstasy pills imported by Kurucu had a street value in excess of Lm50,000.

Senior Counsel to the Republic Anthony Barbara prosecuted while Dr Anglu Farrugia appeared for the accused.