A man arrested on Thursday morning over his alleged involvement in a cigarette smuggling operation in St Paul's Bay, was granted bail upon his arraignment after pleading not guilty in court.
James Azzopardi, 29, residing in St Paul's Bay, was charged over the illegal importation of over one million cigarettes totaling €31,523 in value, over which no duties and taxes had been paid.
The arrest came hot on the heels of an anonymous call to the Qawra police station at daybreak on Thursday, informing them of suspicious activity taking place at the quayside in the tal-Veccja area.
Boxes were seen being unloaded from a boat moored at the quay and transferred to a vehicle parked close by, the source had said.
A police patrol dispatched to the site came across the accused standing by a parked Fiat Ducato, while the boat took off as soon as the approaching police presence was sensed.
The man standing on shore was arrested once the contents of the boxes inside his van were revealed as Customs Department officials were called in.
During the arraignment, it emerged that the boxes, currently seized by the authorities together with the van, had contained more than one million cigarettes of Business Kings Lights, Business Royals, Business Kings Red and Richman brands.
Unpaid excise duty totalled €190,072, while import duty and VAT were €18,157 and €43,155 respectively, the court was told.
A request for bail was objected to by the prosecution primarily in view of ongoing investigations to decipher who had been in the boat which had managed to get away.
However, defence lawyer Michael Sciriha countered that such customs cases were normally summary proceedings prosecuted by summons rather than under an arrest warrant.
“Why should my client be denied bail just because the prosecution wants to find out who the person/s on the boat were?” Dr Sciriha argued, pointing out further that the man satisfied all the conditions for bail.
Duty magistrate Doreen Clarke upheld the defence's arguments against a deposit of €3,000, a personal guarantee of €5,000 and a duty to sign the bail book twice weekly.
Inspector Maurice Curmi prosecuted. Lawyer Lucio Sciriha was also defence counsel.