A 1.2kg stash of brownish powder seized during an anti-drug police raid at stables in Marsa contained a minimal percentage of heroin far below the norm, a court-appointed expert told court on Tuesday. 

While heroin purity generally ranged from 15 to 30 per cent, the stash seized following the September raid had a purity of just 0.2 to 0.5 per cent, Prof. Emmanuel Sinagra testified. 

This revelation was made in the course of criminal proceedings against two men and a woman following a raid on the stables last September. The raid took place after a fire broke out at the stable.  

Stable hand Nicholas Farrugia, 25, from Cospicua and his partner Shana Farrugia, 22, from Ħamrun, were jointly charged with aggravated possession of heroin and conspiracy to traffic. Mr Farrugia was also charged with animal cruelty.

Jason Borg, a 39-year old horse cab driver from Birkirkara who owns the stables in question, was likewise prosecuted over the aggravated possession of heroin.

Charges against the trio had spoken of some 1.2 kilograms of suspected heroin, which had been packaged in 12 sachets of around 100 grams each.

With Prof. Sinagra testifying that the suspicious powder had a purity of under one per cent, defence lawyer Franco Debono immediately asked whether whether the substance seized in the raid could qualify as heroin at all, given that the percentage purity was minimal.

The case continues.

Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi was defence counsel to Nicholas Farrugia.
Lawyer Franco Debono was defence counsel to Shana Farrugia.
Lawyers Veronique Dalli and Alfred Abela were defence counsel to Jason Borg.