Man jailed for 17 years for importing 15 kilos of cocaine
The man was caught smuggling the drugs in his car
A 39-year-old man has been jailed for 17 years after admitting to importing 15 kilogrammes of cocaine.
Police and customs officers carried out a joint operation on January 26, 2024, when Octavian Viorel Piticariu, a Romanian national, was stopped after disembarking the ferry from Pozzallo, Sicily.
The man was stopped, arrested, and his Volkswagen Touareg car was searched. Initially, the K9 police dogs did not alert officers to anything.
However, after police removed the vehicle running board – a board typically mounted under doors – and rear wheel, they found a hidden compartment with the drugs packed inside.
The man also provided the investigators with information about more drugs hidden in the vehicle.
The police found a total of 15 kilogrammes of cocaine of 55.7 per cent purity.
Piticariu was accused of importing the drug, being in aggravated possession and associating to traffic the drug.
He entered a guilty plea on January 29, 2026.
The Attorney General and the accused filed a joint application that if he entered a guilty plea, the prosecution would recommend a 17-year prison term and a €23,000 fine.
The defence argued that the man should benefit from a decrease of one degree in the punishment because he had provided so much information, but no third parties were arraigned.
The accused also offered to participate in a controlled delivery, but due to the passage of time, the delivery could not take place.
The court upheld the recommendation and jailed the man for 17 years. He was fined €23,000 and condemned to pay an additional €5,391.71 in court expenses.
Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera presided over the Criminal Court.