Jailed for six years, €4,000 fine for 2002 drug case

A court has jailed a 42-year-old man for six years and fined him €4,000 after it found him guilty of aggravated possession of heroin in 2002.

Victor Buttigieg, of Naxxar, had been arrested in July of that year, with police finding 48.7g of heroin on his person as well as in his place of residence, in circumstances denoting it was not for his personal use. Buttigieg was charged with aggravated possession of the drugs and relapsing.

Buttigieg claimed the drugs were solely for his personal use, saying he was a heavy drug user who would consume 5g of heroin daily.

He told the court how he had gone to buy some heroin from his supplier, claiming that the dealer had insisted on him taking 52g of heroin at Lm18 per gram. He said he had protested, telling the dealer that he did not need that much and lacked the funds to pay him, but the dealer had insisted on him taking the drugs, telling him to pay him at a later date.

The court expressed scepticism about the accused’s version of events, however, Magistrate Marse-Ann Farrugia pointing out that the amounts Buttigieg had been caught with would have catered for 243 standard doses of heroin.

Even according to the recently introduced Drug Dependence (Treatment not Imprisonment) Act, amounts of heroin for personal use do not exceed 2g of heroin, she said. It questioned how Buttigieg had been able to afford Lm936 worth of drugs, in view of his claimed lack of employment.

In awarding punishment, the Magistrate took into account Buttigieg’s cooperation in the police’s investigation, but also noted that he was a recidivist with 15 prior convictions.

Inspector Nezren Grixti prosecuted.