Updated at 12.30pm

A man from Żurrieq was denied bail this morning, less than 24 hours after his arrest. He was charged with drug trafficking.

Melvin Cini, 26, accompanied in court by his tearful mother and girlfriend, was charged with having been caught trafficking drugs following a tip off to the police.

The prosecution recounted how yesterday at around 11.30am the police were informed that some illegal activity was going on in a street in Żurrieq. Arriving at the scene, the police came upon the accused approaching a parked vehicle, registered in the name of a third party.

The man was seen to retrieve something from the luggage booth which, upon inspection by the police turned out to contain some 150 grams of cannabis, around 110 grams each of cocaine and heroin, as well as some 100 ecstasy pills.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges and made a request for bail.

The prosecution, however, objected to this request for various reasons stressing the gravity of the offence. The nature of the haul clearly indicated that the drugs recovered were not intended for the accused's personal use.

Moreover, the prosecution pointed out that police investigations were still ongoing and that there were witnesses who still had to testify.

The defence submitted that the police ought to have granted the accused police bail and then proceeded with the investigations. The court was asked to note that the accused was employed, had a clean criminal record and a stable family background.

"The presumption of innocence is the rule not the exception," the defence argued. "Should the investigation yield nothing against the accused, we would have deprived an innocent man of his freedom."

The court, presided by magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo, denied the request for bail primarily on account of the fact that police were still in the process of gathering evidence. A request by the prosecution to issue a freezing order upon all the assets of the accused was also upheld.

Inspector Frank Anthony Tabone prosecuted. Lawyers Franco Debono and Amadeus Cachia were defence counsel.

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