Accused in €640,000 cocaine bust says he went to Holland on business trip

Arnold Farrugia, 44, is facing a trial by jury on charges of having imported 6.2kg of cocaine in a freezer trailer.

Prosecuting lawyer Lara Lanfranco said Farrugia had taken the refrigerated container to the Netherlands, where drugs were hidden in the cooling unit. The container was brought to Malta onboard the vessel Maltese Falcon. At the same time, the accused took a flight back to Malta via the United Kingdom.

On 25 July, 2005, at 10am officers from the Drug Squad moved in on a container that had arrived from the port of Genoa on the Maltese Falcon and was unloaded at Laboratory Wharf. A truck belonging to Emmanuel Vella and Sons arrived on site to tow the container, however after the Customs Officers were informed that the container was under investigation, the police escorted it to the groupage compound in Hal Far.

The merchandise inside the container, which belonged to Arnold Farrugia, was unloaded and the trailer searched, with negative results. An attempt was made to search the cooling unit of the trailer however the officers could not unbolt it and the container was sent for X-ray scanning at the Freeport.

The scan showed unjustified shadows inside the unit and the refrigerated container was again returned to Hal Far where physical examination, in the presence of the accused, revealed six tile-shaped black plastic packets and one smaller one. In total the packets contained 6.2kg of 85.8% pure cocaine, with a street value of between €434,700 and €639,630.

This was the biggest drug bust registered by the police at the time.

European warrant for conspirator

Assistant Commissioner Norbert Ciappara said that Farrugia had claimed he had gone abroad to strike a deal with a transshipment company in Luxembourg, but went to Holland to buy a ticket to England as it was cheaper from there.

Asked by the investigators about the company he allegedly went to deal with, the accused could not remember the company’s details. Farrugia also denied any knowledge of the drug found in his container.

The following morning, the investigators spoke to Emanuel Vella, of Express Trailers, who told them that the accused had asked him if he had any work coming in from Brussels as he had an empty container waiting to be brought from there. Vella’s nephew had then spoken to a driver instructing him from where to collect the container to be transported to Malta.

Subsequently, in November 2005 the police were informed that three men, one of whom was Maltese, had been apprehended in the Netherlands over drug trafficking allegations. One of the foreigners, Hasan Ben Salah, a 33-year-old Moroccan with a Dutch passport, was suspected of being the person who had sold the cocaine to the accused. Fingerprints lifted from the packets found in Farrugia’s container matched those of Ben Salah. A European Arrest Warrant was issued against Ben Salah, who was surrendered to Malta and faced criminal proceedings. 

The defence raised an objection, claiming that if the jurors knew how the cases against Ben Salah was concluded, it could lead to prejudice against the accused. Mr Justice Lawrence Quintano banned the witness from telling the jurors the outcome of Ben Salah's case.

Mr Justice Lawrence Quintano is presiding. Lawyers Lara Lanfranco and Kevin Vella are representing the Attorney General while Dr Arthur Azzopardi and Dr Edward Gatt are representing the accused.