A local man has been fined £800 after importing £926 of cannabis into Gibraltar.

Ernest Gary Francis, 25, of Montagu Gardens, pleaded guilty to two separate charges of Possession of a Controlled Class B Drug and Importation of a Controlled Class B Drug at the Magistrates’ Court today.

He received the £800 fine for the possession and no separate penalty for the importation.

His arrest came just after 4:15pm on Wednesday 15 June this year, when Francis drove his car from Spain into Gibraltar and was stopped at Cepsa Petrol Station by the RGP’s Drug Squad and HM Customs’ Flexible Anti-Smuggling Team.

Detectives then searched the car and found cannabis resin weighing 185.2 grams hidden in a beach umbrella, within the boot.

Francis was then arrested, interviewed and later charged for the offences.