No bail for 19-year-old caught with 87 ecstasy pills, cocaine on New Year's Eve

A suspected drug trafficker has appeared in court after being arrested in Paceville on New Year’s Day, while carrying 87 ecstasy pills.

19-year-old Julian Bonnici from St Paul’s Bay was arraigned before magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona, charged with possession of ecstasy and cocaine in circumstances which indicated that they were not intended for his personal use.

Bonnici, who said he was unemployed, was also charged with simple possession of cannabis.

Prosecuting police inspector Jonathan Cassar explained that the accused had been arrested after leaving a bar in Paceville, where he was found to be carrying some 87 ecstasy pills and eight grams of cocaine, “ready to be distributed”. Inspector Cassar added that, upon spotting the police, officers had seen Bonnici throw away the packets containing cocaine. The youth had denied all connection to the discarded drugs, he said.

Bonnici was not being charged with the completed offence of trafficking the drugs as he hadn’t sold any at the time of his arrest, the prosecution later clarified.

The police had been informed that the accused was involved in drug trafficking, Cassar said and Bonnici had told officers that he smoked cannabis. A police search of his home returned a set of weighing scales which the accused had claimed he used “to make sure he was being given the right amount of cannabis.”

Defence lawyer Francois Dalli filed a plea of not guilty and requested bail, but this was denied, the court saying the accused was not trustworthy. “These things have a propensity for happening again,” the magistrate said.