Man caught with 1.3kg of cocaine in car, remanded in custody

A man who was caught with 1.3kg of cocaine with a street value of around €90,000, was denied bail on Friday.

Renald Attard, 36, from Luqa was stopped in his hometown by police acting on confidential information. The arrest was made on Wednesday.

The Police charged Attard with aggravated possession of cocaine in circumstances which denoted it was not solely for his personal use, possession of cannabis and breaching bail conditions.

He was also accused of recidivism.

Attard pleaded not guilty and asked for bail. But the prosecution strongly objected to his request, pointing to the gravity of the charges and the amount of drugs which had been hidden in his car and house, where his children also lived.

Besides this, his criminal record was also far from clean and there were witnesses yet to testify. Inspector Alfredo Mangion told Magistrate Marse Anne Farruge that the investigations were at an early stage.

Defence lawyer Franco Debono hit back at the prosecution’s arguments, saying the court had to find a balance between the rights of the accused and the risks perceived by the prosecution. These risks could be neutralised by adequate strict bail conditions, he argued.

After hearing submissions from both sides, the court denied bail.

Lawyer Marion Camilleri also appeared for the accused.