A 23-year-old man has been sentenced to nine and a half years in jail after he admitted to importing 6kg of cannabis.

Lamin Jobe, from Gambia, had pleaded guilty to importing and aggravated possession of the drug during the compilation proceedings against him on March 12 to avoid a trial by jury.

Jobe had been stopped by law enforcement at the Malta International Airport on October 11, 2022, upon his arrival on a flight from Bologna, Italy.

A search of his suitcase had revealed it to contain 6kg of cannabis, with an estimated street value of between €60,000 and €168,000.

In his considerations on punishment, Mr. Justice Neville Camilleri took a number of factors into consideration, particularly the amount of drugs involved, its value as indicated by a court-appointed expert and Jobe’s role and awareness of what he had been doing.

Noting that punishment for the offences Jobe was accused of carried a term of imprisonment for life, the court said a life sentence would not be appropriate in view of the circumstances of the case, especially taking into account the accused’s admission of guilt before the Court of Magistrates.

Jobe was sentenced to imprisonment for nine years and six months, and was ordered to pay a €15,000 fine and a further €3,972 in costs. The court also ordered the forfeiture of all the man’s moveable and immoveable property.