Bail for drug conspiracy suspects

Four men who were allegedly caught importing what they thought was cannabis but which eventually turned out to be soap were granted bail yesterday after all the main witnesses were heard.

Rupert Busuttil, 34, Carmelo Borg, 31, Marvin Debono, 22, and Paul Azzopardi, 39, were granted bail against a deposit of €23,293 and a personal guarantee of €46,586 each.

They stand charged with conspiring to import "drugs", which they deny.

Sailing in from Libya aboard the yacht Jolly Roger, two of the men anchored off the west coast in an area known as L-Irdum ta' Miġra l-Ferħa, near Mtaħleb, according to the police. After the 30 kilogrammes of "cannabis" were ferried in a dinghy to the rocky beach, the four men were caught leaving the spot in two cars, the police had said in a statement.

Most of the court proceedings were heard behind closed doors due to the "sensitive nature of the witnesses' testimony" and the sittings were only held in public after all the main witnesses were heard.

Testifying on Tuesday, pharmacist Godwin Sammut said the large number of green-coloured bars found in three cardboard boxes did not consist of an illegal substance. In pleas on bail, the defence team harped on this point, arguing that the "drugs" were not illegal. They even stressed that the main witnesses had already testified and that, therefore, there was no fear that any evidence would be tampered with. The lawyers pointed out that the only witnesses left to testify were police officers.

Police Inspector Norbert Ciappara, prosecuting, asked the court to deny bail because of the seriousness of the crime.

Police Inspectors Jesmond Borg and Johann Fenech also prosecuted.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Charmaine Cherrett appeared for Mr Azzopardi.

Lawyers Gianella Caruana Curran and Emmanuel Mallia appeared for Mr Debono and Mr Borg.

Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi appeared for Mr Busuttil.

This latest case bears legal similarities to that of Steven Marsden who was jailed earlier this month for conspiring to import 50,000 "ecstasy" pills in 2006.

Mr Marsden's case set a precedent in Malta as he was found guilty of conspiring to import ecstasy although it turned out to be another substance, which was not illegal in Malta at the time.

The pills contained mCPP, a substance that was not illegal when Mr Marsden imported them hidden within the panels of his Mitsubishi van.

The prosecution said Mr Marsden thought he was importing ecstasy and did not know that the substance was legal, and so charged him with conspiring to import ecstasy.