Drug addict, trafficker jailed

A drug addict and trafficker who was caught with a small amount of cocaine and heroin at his flat in St Paul's Bay 10 years ago was yesterday jailed for six months and fined almost €500.

Since his arrest on May 7, 2000, Jason Abela followed a drug rehabilitation programme and Magistrate Lawrence Quintano took this into consideration, together with the fact that he had a clean police record before this arrest before pronouncing sentence.

Police officers launched a surveillance operation on Mr Abela's apartment after a tip-off. On the day of the arrest, he had arrived home driving a van and when the police approached him, he started shouting to another person inside the apartment.

The officers rushed up the stairs with him to the apartment where they found less than two grams of cocaine and 0.2 grams of heroin.

While searching the apartment, Mr Abela's mobile phone rang and he promptly threw it on the floor, smashing it into pieces. Shortly afterwards, Carmelo Ciranna and Massimo Caruso arrived and they admitted they were there to buy drugs from the accused as they had done before, Assistant Police Commissioner Neil Harrison, who was an inspector at the time, told the court.

A representative of the drug rehabilitation centre Sedqa, Vicky Scicluna, had testified that the accused was successful in completing a programme in 2002. However, he did not keep his appointments with the agency and had tested positive for drugs on one occasion.

He had attributed this to the fact that, the night before, he had taken the medicine Night Nurse.

Magistrate Lawrence Quintano found him guilty of trafficking in drugs, resting on the testimony of Mr Ciranna and Mr Caruso. Mr Abela was also found guilty of possession.