Man denies trafficking drugs in Paceville after police find 50 cocaine sachets and weighing scales

A man who was arrested in Paceville in possession of 50 sachets of cocaine has pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges.

Bahar ic-Caghaq resident Petar Bajic, 35, was arraigned before magistrate Monica Vella on Saturday, after police officers who stopped him in Paceville on Thursday found him to be carrying 70g of cocaine, which was divided unevenly into 50 sachets. 

Some of the sachets are understood to have contained 0.5g of the illegal substance, while others held up to 5g.

Inspector Jonathan Pace told the court that the police, having been tipped off that Bajic was selling drugs in Paceville had stopped the suspect while he getting out of his car. Bajic had admitted to having drugs, both on his person and inside his car. When a search was carried out after Bajic’s arrest at around 9:30pm on Saturday, officers had also found weighing scales in his car.

Bajic is charged with trafficking cocaine, conspiracy to import or sell cocaine, possession of the drug in circumstances denoting it was not for his personal use and simple possession of cocaine. He was further accused of having committed those offences within 100 metres of a place where young people habitually meet.

He is denying the charges and has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers, Shazoo Ghaznavi and Jessica Formosa did not request bail at this stage.

This is not Bajic’s first brush with the law. In January 2024, he was charged, together with others, in connection with an assault on New Year’s Day in Paceville, outside a club where he had been working as a bouncer. He pleaded not guilty to those charges and is understood to have been on bail at the time of his more recent arrest.