Jailed, fined for possession

A man found by the police in possession of a gram of heroin in a number of sachets, was yesterday imprisoned for 16 months and fined Lm600 on being found guilty of the charges brought against him.

Joseph John Agius, 31, of Birkirkara, was charged by Inspector Nezrin Grixti and charged with being in possession of a drug in a quantity denoting it was not for his personal use.

The drug was found in a search carried out by the police in July, 2002. The police had found four paper sachets containing heroin on a bed, a plastic bag containing citric acid, a plastic bag containing empty sachets, a used syringe and several other items that showed that the accused was preparing sachets in which to place drugs. Another plastic bag containing a number of sachets with heroin was found beneath one of the windows. The accused admitted this was his too.

The court considered that one could split the gram of heroin into 12.5 or 16.6 sachets and had the accused wanted the drug for his personal use, he would not have cut it down in a number of sachets.

In sentencing the accused, the court, presided by Magistrate Lawrence Quintano, considered that Agius had filed a guilty plea and that the probation officer said the accsued was undergoing a drug rehabilitation programme to kick the habit he had had for seven years.