Former policeman charged with drug trafficking testifies

The former police officer undergoing trial for drug charges insisted he had never discussed drugs with anybody.

Jean Pierre Abdilla, 31, of Zurrieq, is pleading not guilty to conspiring to deal in heroin, trafficking in the drug and breaching administrative law enforcement regulations on and before March 2005.

He was secretly filmed allegedly giving a drug sample to his informer, another former police officer facing drug related charges.

Taking the witness stand this morning, Mr Abdilla said he had a Moroccan friend who he wanted to come to Malta.

His informer was ready to help him out for Lm500 and he met him to discuss the matter.

Mr Abdilla said that some days later, he received two phone calls from a woman telling him the CID were after him. Even though he received these phone calls he still met the informer and he told him that Lm500 was too much for his friend to pay.

During a meeting in Luqa at a later date, the accused gave his informer a paper with a telephone number on it.

Sometime after that, the police stopped him and said they wanted to search his house for drugs.

He said he was shocked but let them carry out the search. They asked to go to his garage where they found some protected birds in a chest freezer.

Mr Abdilla said he was interrogated by Assistant Commissioner Neil Harrison who told him that he had given drugs to the informer and they the police had this on film. He said he told AC Abdilla that he only gave his informer a piece of paper with a telephone number.

He said the police had questioned him and he told them that since the informer had his own drug related case, he wanted to benefit by lying.

AC Harrison told the accused it was better for him to resign from the police force because prisoners would make a show of him.

He recalled Mr Harrison telling him that the beating he would receive in prison would be worse than the court judgment.

He insisted that he had never spoken to anyone about drugs.

Meanwhile 28-year-old hotel security guard Elton Abdilla of Zurrieq was charged with threatening a witness who was going to testify in today’s jury.

He pleaded not guilty and was placed under house arrest against a deposit €300 and a personal guarantee €1,000.

He also pleaded not guilty to relapsing.