A Canadian national has been charged at the Mauritius court for being in possession of close to 1 kg of heroine in his bags, local media reported on Monday.

If found guilty, David Allan Stockhall risks being imprisoned for up to 60 years in the Indian Ocean island country in accordance with the Mauritius Dangerous Drugs Act.

Stockhall was arrested in July 2009 for the illegal possession of 989.6 grams of heroine with a market value of 500,000 US dollars.

When questioned by the police, he said he was not aware of the presence of the drugs in his bags and that he was delivering a parcel to a Mauritian national.

An investigation by the police to try and track down his local contacts did not have any results.

The case was heard on Thursday in a Port Louis court. The defense lawyer told the presiding judge that the office of the public prosecutor had received communication indicating the willingness of the accused to facilitate the police investigations to track down the local contacts.

He is expected to be interrogated by the anti-drugs detectives soon and the case will be mentioned again before the judge on Oct. 23.

Under the Mauritius law, any one found in possession of drugs valued at more than 33,000 dollars should be considered as a drug trafficker, and risks being imprisoned for close to 60 years.

However, the final decision in this case lies with the judge.