An Italian man who was denied bail on Friday following his involvement in a drug trafficking deal which went bust insisted on Tuesday he was simply a drug mule promised €1,000 by his two Maltese accomplices for ferrying the drug to Malta.

Salvatore Coco, 48, was one of three men arrested after a police raid at a Ħamrun garage yielded 32 kilograms of cannabis and some €42,000 in cash.

He is currently facing proceedings for trafficking cannabis, importation and possession of the drug which was clearly not intended for his personal use and money laundering activities.

His alleged Maltese accomplices - Michael Aquilina, 45, of Mosta and Gordon Schembri, 31, of Floriana - were likewise denied bail after pleading not guilty to conspiracy in the trafficking of cannabis, importation of the drug, complicity and also money laundering activities.

When the compilation of evidence against the three men kicked off this morning, inspector Kevin Pulis testified how the police had been tipped off about a possible drug deal allegedly planned between the Italian and the two Maltese men.

The court, presided over by magistrate Neville Camilleri, heard how surveillance instructions issued by the inspector at around 2pm had ultimately been followed up last Thursday afternoon. The inspector instructed his men to round up the area of St Vincent Street, Ħamrun.

Converging upon the site, the police had spotted Mr Aquilina behind the wheel of a green BMW making his way out of a complex of garages. The suspect was stopped by the officers who proceeded to carry out a search of the premises.

The officers involved in the raid had next come across Mr Schembri, who had been standing beside a Fiat bearing Italian number plates and allegedly belonging to Mr Coco.

On the driver seat there were two bags stuffed with cash notes while a closer search of the vehicle led the police to a hidden compartment operated by a hydraulic system. The suspected cannabis resin was in the compartment.

The discovery also yielded a remote control device which the Italian man could have had used to access his garages in Sicily. Next to the Fiat there was also an empty gym bag. 

Inspector Pulis informed the court that Mr Coco had admitted to the police that the drug belonged to him but had refused legal assistance and had insisted on releasing a statement before the inquiring magistrate.

In a sworn statement the Italian had explained how some 20 days before the arrests he had met his two Maltese counterparts in a fast food outlet in Sliema where he had been offered €1,000 for ferrying the drug to Malta.

His task had been to transport the consignment from the Catania Harbour to Pozzallo and then catch the catamaran to Malta where he was to meet the two Maltese men at the same Sliema outlet where the deal had been struck.

He insisted he had no idea of the origins of the drug. Moreover, the cash had been dumped inside his car by Mr Schembri and the Italian insisted that he had no idea what the latter intended to do with the money. He never found out because the police had intervened beforehand.

The case continues this week.

Inspector Kevin Pulis prosecuted. Lawyer Kathleen Calleja Grima was counsel to Mr Aquilina and Mr Schembri. Lawyer Gianluca Caruana Curran was counsel to Mr Coco.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.