Self-confessed 'middleman' jailed for trying to sell drugs to police

A drug dealer has been sentenced to 18 months in jail after admitting to attempting to sell marijuana to plainclothes police officers

The man had released a signed statement in which he admitted to acting as a middle-man, selling other people’s cannabis resin in return for money
The man had released a signed statement in which he admitted to acting as a middle-man, selling other people’s cannabis resin in return for money

Drug dealer Ali Abdi Jama will have 18 months to dwell on his customer selection process after he was jailed for attempting to sell marijuana to plainclothes police officers in Paceville.

28-year-old Jama, who was born in Somalia and resided at the Hal Far Open Centre, had been arrested outside Axis last summer after he approached two plainclothes officers. Jama is quoted as saying “You want some drugs? Weed? Weed?” after the officers asked him to clarify his opener: “You want some?”

Although a search of the man’s person did not turn up any drugs, during his interrogation, Jama had told the police that he had asked the undercover officers whether they wanted to buy hashish, which he would then collect from his friends who, he said, sold drugs “near Axis, near the sea.” He would receive €5-€10 as commission for every concluded sale, he said.

Although he could not say where his friends stashed the drugs, he had told police that he knew the names of many of them.

Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras noted that the man had released a signed statement after refusing to consult with a lawyer, in which he admitted to acting as a middle-man, selling other people’s cannabis resin in return for money.

This, the court said, meant that the charge of trafficking cannabis had already been proven, because even a simple offer to supply cannabis constituted the completed offence of drug trafficking - independently of whether or not a sale had subsequently been concluded.

The crime was also rendered aggravated by the fact that it took place less than 200 meters from a place frequented by young people.

Jama was found guilty and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, from which the time he had spent in custody was to be deducted, and fined €1,500.