Dingli man, 23, arrested with 120g of cocaine in police road block

A police “stop and search” exercise yesterday resulted in a man from Dingli being charged with cocaine trafficking.

23-year-old Jurgen Sant from Dingli appeared before magistrate Neville Camilleri this morning, accused of trafficking and aggravated possession of cocaine and simple possession of cannabis resin.

Inspector Herman Mula told the court that 120g of cocaine and some cannabis resin were found in the man's vehicle when it was stopped by the police yesterday.

Defence lawyers Giannella Demarco and Gianluca Caruana Curran entered a plea of not guilty on behalf of the accused and requested bail.

De Marco argued that judgements by the Constitutional court had established that the gravity of the crime was not a sufficient ground for bail to be refused. The accused had a clean police conduct, was in employment and had family ties to Malta. Because of this, remanding the accused in prison should ideally be avoided, said the lawyer, adding that there was no risk of him tampering with evidence or approaching witnesses.

The court upheld the request, imposing a considerable deterrent to skipping bail in the form of a €2,000 deposit and an eye-watering €10,000 personal guarantee. The accused was also required to sign a bail book three times a week and relinquish his ID card and passport.

The case will continue in February.