Man arrested after Marsa chase was carrying 40 sachets of drugs, court told

The man was arrested and charged with drug trafficking after police found over 40 sachets of synthetic marijuana and cannabis

A man has been remanded in custody on drug trafficking charges after being found in possession of over 40 sachets of drugs in a Marsa public garden.

Police officers patrolling 13 December avenue in Marsa had arrested the man on suspicion of drug possession last Sunday. According to prosecuting police Inspector Sarah Kathleen Zerafa, when the police approached the public gardens in Triq Patri Felicjan Bilocca, the man had noticed them and attempted to run away. 

The officers apprehended him shortly afterwards, however. As a result of the chase a few sachets containing a green substance had fallen out of his jacket and were later recovered by the police. 40 more sachets were found in his jacket pockets.

Under interrogation, the suspect initially claimed that the drugs were intended for his own use, but later confessed to selling them. The sachets contained synthetic marijuana and cannabis, with 22 and 18 packets respectively, said the inspector. The man told the police that he planned on using the money to travel to Italy. He did not have any identification documents in his possession, bar a photograph  of an Italian ID card, explaining that he had lost his passport and wallet in which he kept his documents.

The man was identified as Nuhu Mohammed, a 32-year-old builder from Ghana. In court this morning, Mohammed said that he is currently unemployed.

The magistrate informed Mohammed that he was charged with having been in possession of marijuana and synthetic drugs in circumstances denoting that they were not intended for his personal use at the time of his arrest on 16 April at around 4:45pm. He was also accused of disobeying lawful police orders.

The defendant replied that he understood the charges, after which the magistrate informed the man of his right to silence.

Defence lawyer Alfred Abela informed the court that the defendant was not going to answer questions about his place of residence at this stage.

A not-guilty plea was entered on Mohammed’s behalf, with the lawyer informing the court that the defence would not be requesting bail at this stage.

The court ordered that the acts of the case be remitted to the registrar in order to be assigned to a magistrate according to law.