A man was condemned to a nine-month jail term on Monday in a drug trafficking case going back 22 years.

Police had raided Carmel Spiteri's house in Ta' Giorni in 1997 on suspicion that it was the base for drug-trafficking activity. They observed the comings and goings of a man believed to have been a drug runner.

A young couple who were stopped in Regional Road after leaving the house were found in possession of two sachets of white powder, suspected cocaine, as well as a number of travellers' cheques.

When the officers searched the house, they found a box in the kitchen bearing €6,000 in cash, €480 in cheques, foreign currency and a golden cross.

Officers then searched the front garden and found a tape-strapped Bovril jar containing 50 grams of cocaine hidden beneath the shrubs.

Mr Spiteri protested his innocence and denied that he had anything to do with that jar placed in the soil outside his home.

In handing down judgement, Magistrate Ian Farrugia noted that the case was assigned to this court in 2013 and part of the cause for the delay was a fire which had broken out inside a courtroom back in 2004 wherein many files had been destroyed.

The records of the case had to be reconstructed.

He said that the evidence proved beyond a reasonable doubt the accusations of trafficking, aggravated possession and recidivism. 

When meting out punishment, Magistrate Farrugia deplored the “unjustifiable” delay but stressed that drug-trafficking was “a serious crime.”

The court declared the accused guilty and condemned him to a 9-month jail term and a €1,500 fine.