Self-proclaimed Tumas heir spared six years in jail in heroin trafficking case

A man who claims to be the son of business magnate Tumas Fenech has been spared a six-year jail term for heroin trafficking after a court found he had cleaned up his act in the past 20 years.

Victor Buttigieg, 49, was first arrested in connection with the case back in 2002, when police searched his home and found eight sachets filled with a total of 48.7 grams of heroin that turned out to be 30 per cent pure.

He had argued that his drug dealer had forced him to buy that large amount and given it to him distributed in various sachets.

A magistrate’s court did not believe that version of events and noted that Buttigieg had a long criminal record, with convictions for drug-related crimes as well as unlicensed possession of a weapon.

Buttigieg has claimed that he is an heir to the Tumas business empire and that the Fenech family has refused his demands for DNA testing to settle the matter, which is currently in court.

The Fenech family has dismissed the issue as a private matter and said that most of his requests have been refused by the court.

In 2015, Buttigieg was sentenced to six years and ordered to pay a €4,000 fine in connection with his heroin arrest. He appealed that...