Bulgarian weightlifter sent behind bars

A former Bulgarian weightlifting champion has been sentenced to nine years behind bars by a Brazilian court after being found guilty of drug-trafficking.

Galabin Boevski, who won a gold medal for Bulgaria at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, was arrested in Sao Paulo five months ago while trying to board a flight to Sofia.

Brazilian police found cocaine worth 500,000 dollars in a fake bottom inside Boevski's suitcase.

The 37-year-old former champ denied any wrongdoing, claiming that the cocaine had been hidden in the suitcase which he had apparently purchased in Brazil without his knowledge.

However, Judge Maria Isabel do Prado rejected the claim, arguing that no drugs handler would abandon such a valuable quantity of cocaine.

"The amount of drug found and the location where the drug was found made it clear that it was not going to be used for personal use, but instead was being transported for commercial means," the judge said.

It is not the first time that Boevski has fallen foul of the law. In 2004, he received an 8-year-ban from the World Weightlifting Federation, for doping.