BRASILIA: Romanian Viorel Cosmin Maciuca, 28, was sentenced to 13.5 years in prison in connection with the smuggling of four kilos of cocaine from Sao Paolo, Brazil last summer.
As argued in court, on August 7, 2014, following a tip by the drug squad, a customs officer at Larnaca airport stopped Maciuca to X-ray his luggage, identifying eight packages inside.
The officer removed the packages and found that they contained a white powder, later identified as cocaine, resulting in the Romanian’s arrest for smuggling, possession and intent to sell a Class A narcotic.
When questioned, the 28-year-old told the customs officer that he had been asked to carry snake poison from Sao Paolo to Larnaca in exchange for €2,000, and told that an individual would be waiting for him on arrival at the airport.
In its ruling, the court said that the charges Maciuca faced were deemed “serious, in light of their broader social implications”, adding that this, along with the high frequency of such offences, calls for deterrent sentencing.
In sentencing, the court considered the defendant’s personal circumstances, his clean record, his young age, his financial problems, the fact that he would be serving any sentence away from home, the impact his punishment would have on him and his family, and the fact that he cooperated with customs and investigators fully.
“But what is of the utmost importance is the strict and deterrent punishment of those involved in the spreading of drugs, both in Cyprus and internationally,” the court said.
Maciuca was sentenced to 13.5 years in prison for smuggling a Class A controlled substance, and an additional 13.5 years for possession with intent to sell the drugs, with the two sentences running concurrently.
