Ex-salesman fails to sell drug mule story to court

A former insurance salesman arrested while carrying nearly 600 ecstasy pills in a hotel lobby seven years ago was yesterday jailed for five years and fined €5,000.

Jeffery Savage, 37, of Mtarfa, was observed by policemen driving his BMW into the car park of the Radisson in St Julians on January 28, 2003. He was then seen talking on his mobile phone while holding an envelope, Assistant Police Commissioner Neil Harrison had testified.

Police officers then saw him walk into the hotel, when they swooped in and Mr Savage was caught holding an envelope containing 595 ecstasy pills he was meant to sell to another person in the hotel cafeteria for €3,840, Mr Harrison said.

In his statement to the police, Mr Savage said the drugs actually belonged to another man named Alex who lived in the UK and who had told him they were to be hidden in the undergrowth near Australia Hall in Pembroke. Mr Savage was to make €233 out of the drug sale.

Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani said that, while testifying, Mr Savage’s story changed several times and he gave a completely different version of events. She described his testimony as “confusing, convoluted and inconsistent”, at times not making sense.

Furthermore, the accused had tried his best to convince the court he was a mere drug mule who had worked for international drug traffickers when the evidence proved otherwise.

The magistrate opted for a jail term after taking into consideration the amount of the pills found and the fact he had dealt in drugs before.