Two charged over cocaine, heroin haul

An Ivorian man and a Dutch woman were charged in connection with a drug haul of cocaine and heroin having a street value of €1 million.

The alleged courier, 25-year-old Romanian national Gabriel Alin Fister, appeared in court on Tuesday.

The Ivorian, 29-year-old Mohammed Kouruma, admitted in a police statement that he was meant to pick up the drugs following a call from a fellow national in Amsterdam.

The woman, 42-year-old Miriam Parmanand, allegedly tried to launder money in connection with the drug deal. She was allegedly caught with €20,000 in cash on Monday as she tried to leave the island, just 12 hours after landing here.

She had arrived on the same flight Amsterdam as the alleged courier.

The woman claimed she came to Malta to shop for designer items and had to leave the island so soon because her husband called and said their son had injured his head and was in hospital.

However, Police Inspector Dennis Theuma told the court the police had information about her involvement in drug trade between The Netherlands and Malta. Even though she was not carrying any drugs with her, there was enough evidence against her to justify her arrest and arraignment.

The police held her after they were alerted that she was about to leave the island. A search yielded €20,000 in cash, that is, €10,000 over the legal cash limit one can carry.

She pleaded not guilty to the charges and faces up to 14 years in jail and a €1 million fine if found guilty.

The Ivorian, on the other hand, is an illegal immigrant who has been living in a Buġibba flat, Police Inspector Dennis Theuma explained.

The officer said police officers had followed him to his flat, acting on a tip off, and arrested him on charges of conspiring to import the seized drugs: a kilo of cocaine and one kilo of heroin.

They were both remanded in custody by Magistrate Joseph Apap Bologna.