Bill of indictment against Briton in drug case

The Attorney General has issued the bill of indictment against a Briton charged with conspiring to deal in drugs.

Originally, Steven John Lewis Marsden, 45, had also been charged with importing 50,000 ecstasy pills and trafficking in the drug last summer.

But these two charges were dropped after evidence produced during the compilation of evidence against Mr Marsden showed that the pills did not contain the chemical found in ecstasy, as listed in Maltese drug laws, but contained another unscheduled drug.

Mr Marsden, however, still stands charged with conspiring to deal in the drug since, the prosecution is maintaining, he believed he was dealing in ecstasy when he imported the pills from Spain.

During the compilation of evidence Police Inspectors Norbert Ciappara and Dennis Theuma, prosecuting, had explained how Mr Marsden was arrested by the police when he arrived in Malta, from Sicily, aboard a catamaran on July 9, 2006. Following long hours of intensive searches, the police found over 14 kilos of pills hidden between panels of his Mitsubishi Pajero.

They also said that, when Mr Marsden eventually released a statement, he explained that he had accepted to act as a drug courier because he was facing financial problems.

Court expert Mario Mifsud, giving evidence during the proceedings, explained how the analysis of the pills, seized by the police, showed that they did not contain the drug MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-N methylamphetamine), which is listed in Maltese law.

They, however, contained the drug mCPP (1-(3-chlorophenyl) piperazine) which is not scheduled under local law.

In light of this evidence, the Attorney General issued a bill of indictment charging Mr Marsden with conspiring to deal in ecstasy.

Lawyer Joseph Brincat is representing Mr Marsden.