Man, 23, caught importing 15kg of cocaine released from custody, AG to appeal

The Attorney General is expected to file an appeal after a magistrate granted bail to a 23-year-old Gozitan man charged with smuggling 15kg of cocaine in a car that arrived in Malta on the ferry from Sicily on Monday.

Quarry worker Joseph Rodney Grima of Ghajnsielem, Gozo, was arraigned under arrest in Court on Wednesday, charged with importation and possession of 15 kilograms of cocaine. The drugs had been discovered inside a Mercedes which was transported to Malta by ferry. According to the prosecution, Grima requested towing service after the car encountered mechanical problems. The police believe that source of the fault was drugs hidden in the fuel tank.

This morning, magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona granted the man bail against a deposit of €20,000, a personal guarantee of €50,000.

Grima was ordered not to leave the country and to signs a bail book twice daily. A curfew was also imposed during the night hours and during the day he is not to leave the quarry where he works. The court warned him that if he breaches one of the conditions imposed, he will be immediately arrested. 

In a statement released to the media the day before Wednesday's arraignment, the Police had said that a 66-year-old man from Qormi was also being investigated in connection with the discovery.

Grima pleaded not guilty to the charges and requested bail, a request objected to by prosecuting police Inspector Jonathan Cassar, who argued that this investigations were still ongoing and witnesses were yet to testify. Defence lawyer Joe Giglio, one of four lawyers defending the accused, explained that the witnesses were the two persons who had allegedly towed the drug-laden car from the UK to Malta.

Magistrate Micallef Trigona had announced that he will deliver his decision on bail on Friday morning, saying he did not like keeping a person under arrest unnecessarily.

Lawyers Mario Mifsud, Joe Giglio, William Cuschieri and Alfred Abela appeared for the accused.