Man pleads guilty to attempting to traffic cocaine days after prison release

A Somali man has admitted to attempting to traffic cocaine in Paceville last night, just days after he was released from prison.

30-year-old Abdisalan Mahamed Afrah was arrested last night in the heart of the local nightlife district after police noted him behaving suspiciously. Inspector Frank Anthony Tabone told magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera that a subsequent search of Afrah revealed that he had been carrying three sachets of a substance which was suspected to be cocaine.

He had told officers that he had been planning to sell the three 0.5g sachets for €50 each for €150 in total.

Afrah, who is unemployed and lives in Hal Far, was charged with trafficking cocaine, possession of cocaine in circumstances denoting that he intended to traffic the drug, aggravated by the fact that he was less than 100m away from a place frequented by youths. Charges relating to the possession of cocaine without the authorisation of the health authorities and relapsing brought the tally of charges to five.

The accused had just been released from prison when he was arrested. In 2014, Afrah had been sentenced to three years' imprisonment for stealing a handbag. No reason as to why he was no longer incarcerated emerged in today's arraignment.

He pleaded guilty as charged.

Lawyer Leontine Calleja, defence counsel, pointed out that the amounts found were very small and reminded the court of the defendant's unfortunate personal circumstances, as mitigating factors for the purposes of sentencing.

Magistrate Scerri Herrera announced that judgement will be delivered on 5 July. Afrah will be remanded in custody while awaiting his sentence.