A surveillance operation by the Drugs Squad, on the lookout for an impending drug deal in St Julian's, led to the arrest of a trio of suspected traffickers and a 550kg haul of cannabis, a Magistrates’ Court was told this morning.
Rudolph Said, 35, from Fgura, together with Italian nationals Angelo Penna, 60, and Cristoforo Paratore, 42, both from Catania, this morning sat in the dock as chief prosecutor Inspector Kevin Pulis provided the court with an overview of events leading to last Thursday’s arrests.
Officers patrolling the area outside the Portomaso carpark had observed a man approach a white Peugeot vehicle, placing a black bag inside.
Another man, later identified as Rudolph Said, approached the vehicle some time later and it was at this point that the police sprang into action.
The bag inside the car was found to contain some 20kg of suspected cannabis resin.
The other suspect, seen leaving the underground car park, was also arrested and identified as Angelo Penna, in whose possession police found the key to a Fiat Multiplo, said to belong to Cristoforo Paratore, the third suspect, who was discovered close by and also taken under arrest.
The operation had to be temporarily suspended when Mr Penna complained of chest pains and had to be taken to Mater Dei, where he was medically examined and kept under observation for 24 hours.
However, upon his discharge from hospital, the police returned to the Portomaso car park where they were shown a large, movable, tray-like device under the van, which, when pulled out, revealed cash and suspected cannabis resin.
Investigations later shifted to Fgura where, inside a garage belonging to Mr Paratore, police discovered two Italian-registered Fiat Ducato vans. A similar tray-like contraption was also discovered under these vehicles.
The blue van, which Mr Paratore claimed as his own, yielded no drugs but an amount of cash. The other van, a white Ducato, allegedly belonging to Mr Penna contained some 530kg of cannabis resin. A total of some €200,000 in cash was retrieved in the haul.
The two Italians allegedly told the police they had driven the vans, making the crossing from Sicily to Malta on the catamaran.
Both vehicles were removed by investigators to a safe area for further inspection while investigations are still ongoing.
During interrogations, Mr Said, who works as delivery man, chose not to answer many questions.
Mr Paratore had denied any involvement in the drug haul, telling police that there had been a couple of occasions when he had helped his co-national to unload the drugs, insisting that he had done so without demanding any payment.
Mr Penna, the other co-accused, had told police that he had no idea of the full load of drugs. He had simply been instructed to put 20kg of the drug into a bag at a time, being paid €3,000 for each refill.
The case continues.
Lawyers Roberto Montalto, Franco Debono and Mario Mifsud assisted Mr Said while lawyer Gianluca Caruana Curran was counsel to the other two co-accused.