Some 54 kilograms of cannabis buds were packed into tumble-driers and freezers and transported to a Ħamrun flat, the court heard on Thursday as proceedings against three alleged drug traffickers continued.
Austin Mallia, Michele Artale and Sandro Lo Presti watched from the dock as 12 transparent, sizable sacks of the brownish-green grass were hauled into the courtroom by armed police officers in bulletproof vests.
In the course of the hearing, court-appointed chemical expert Emanuel Sinagra confirmed under oath that the bags contained 53.9kg of cannabis grass.
This drug, together with some 300 grams of cannabis resin, minimal amounts of heroin and cocaine, as well as some €16,000 in cash and a firearm, were all recovered at the end of a coordinated operation by the Drugs Squad from a Ħamrun apartment where Mr Lo Presti resided.
Taking the witness stand, Inspector Kevin Pulis explained how on Monday March 22, a tip-off about the three suspects’ alleged involvement in drug-trafficking had sparked off a surveillance operation outside a residence in Iklin where Mr Artale lived.
Police kept watch as Mr Mallia drove up in his car, entered the premises, left after some time and returned in an Isuzu pickup van. After re-entering the residence, Mr Mallia was observed minutes later, together with Mr Artale, leaving the house carrying a chest freezer, which was loaded onto the van.
The police followed the suspect all the way to Ta’ Qali where he entered a freight forwarder’s yard and drove out once again, a while later, with a box stowed away on the van next to the freezer.
The man then drove to Ħamrun stopping outside an apartment block where Mr Lo Presti was known to have resided for some time after his arrival from Sicily.
Soon after, the second suspect, Mr Lo Presti drove up in a Kia Picanto, inside which were visible two boxes similar to that collected by Mr Mallia from Ta’ Qali.
Police officers intervened just as the two suspects were unloading the packages containing white goods and proceeded to search the Ħamrun apartment.
The chest freezer yielded no results, Inspector Pulis explained. However, as the police stripped away the packaging of a tumble dryer and two other chest freezers, they came across the suspected cannabis grass stacked inside the appliances.
The search of the flat yielded the €16,000 in cash, a firearm and other drug paraphernalia, the court was told.
All three men were arrested and taken in for questioning, the inspector continued, explaining further that Mr Mallia had denied any knowledge of the drugs, declaring that he had simply offered his assistance in the transportation of the white goods as he had done on earlier occasions.
The Maltese man had told the police that Mr Artale had instructed him to go to the freight forwarder’s yard.
The other suspect, Mr Artale, had given a somewhat different version under questioning, telling police that Mr Mallia had approached him to purchase drugs and that he had referred the Maltese man to Sandro Lo Presti, a ‘well-known’ name among drug-trafficking circles in Malta.
Mr Artale had denied any involvement in the drug business, brushing it off on the other two arrested men, Inspector Pulis explained.
Magistrate Neville Camilleri is presiding over the compilation of evidence.
Lawyer Joe Giglio is counsel to Mr Mallia. Lawyers Franco Debono and Amadeus Cachia are counsel to Mr Lopresti. Lawyers Alfred Abela, Arthur Azzopardi and Rene Darmanin are counsel to Mr Artale. Inspectors Kevin Pulis and Jonathan Cassar are prosecuting.
The case continues.