Tuesday, 12th August 2008

Minivan driver accused of drug trafficking

A minivan driver was yesterday remanded in custody after he pleaded not guilty to trafficking and being in possession of cocaine and cannabis resin on and before July 27.

Magistrate Silvio Meli upheld Police Inspector Pierre Grech's request for the assets of the accused, Antoine Azzopardi, 34, of Mtarfa, to be frozen.

In a request for bail, defence lawyer Arthur Azzopardi told the court that his client has a clean police conduct certificate and has never been arraigned.

After taking into consideration the fact that if found guilty Mr Azzopardi could face up to 10 years in jail, Magi- strate Meli turned down the request and remanded him in custody.

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Article © Allied Newspapers Ltd., printed on Sunday, November 22, 2009. This article is for personal use only, and should not be distributed.

Comments

Amanda Mallia (on 12/8/08)

Let us hope that if found guilty, he will be banned from contact with young people, most specifically vulnerable school children who could be temporarily in his "care" on their way to and from school (often unsupervised).

The fact that he has a clean police record does not mean that this is the first time he has done it. Children's safety is of primary importance. That should be taken into consideration too if a sentence is to be handed down.