Bulgarian ex-weightlifting champ jailed for trafficking

Former Bulgarian Olympic weightlifting champion Galabin Boevski has been sentenced to nine years and four months in jail in Brazil for cocaine smuggling, state radio BNR said Thursday. Boevski, 37, was arrested last October while trying to board a plane in Sao Paolo with nine kilogrammes (20 pounds) of cocaine hidden in the lining of his suitcases. The former star weightlifter, who was returning with his daughter from a tennis tournament she attended, claimed he bought the suitcases in Brazil and was unaware of the illicit cargo. Boevski won an Olympic gold medal, two world weightlifting titles and three European gold medals between 1999 and 2003 before being banned for eight years after failing a doping test in 2004. The incident effectively ended his sports career. His sentence is still subject to appeal while the maximum punishment for drug trafficking in Brazil is 20 years in jail.