An airline passenger travelling to Malta on Sunday has ended the year on a costly note after being caught entering Malta with more than the maximum allowed in cash.

Gurvinder Singh, a 29-year old Indian national living in Spain, had just landed at the Malta International Airport at 1:45pm on Sunday when he was caught carrying some €21,100, €11,100 in excess of the €10,000 statutory limit on undeclared cash passengers can carry.

The passenger, who had just arrived from Barcelona, was stopped and arrested after failing to declare the extra cash.

Less than 24 hours later, the man was escorted to court where he pleaded guilty, forfeiting the excess amount of €11,100 and landing a further fine of €5275, which is the 25 per cent fine on the total amount of cash, imposed by law.

The arraignment was presided by magistrate Joseph Mifsud.
Inspector Keith Vella prosecuted.