Smuggled cocaine was destined for Siggiewi chicken farmer, jury told

A man on trial for involvement in cocaine smuggling had told police that the drugs were meant to be delivered to a Siggiewi chicken farmer, his jury has been told.

Inspector Herman Mula testified in the trial of Kingsley Wilcox, a 35-year-old Nigerian-born Malta resident, who is charged with conspiracy to import cocaine. Wilcox had named Angelo Bilocca as the person to whom the drugs had been meant to be delivered.

Reports from the time say that Bilocca and his partner had been arrested and charged with conspiracy to import cocaine after the controlled delivery in 2012. The case against the pair is believed to still be underway. Bilocca was also previously reported to have been charged in a people smuggling case.

Wilcox had told police that he was supposed to collect a consignment of drugs from a Spanish man and pass it on to “another man who lived in a farmhouse in Siggiewi,” the inspector said.

Wilcox had been arrested upon arrival at the airport in October 2012. Although no drugs were found on his person, evidence from his mobile phone showed that he was planning to meet a Spanish man who was carrying the 1.085kg of cocaine in a suitcase. The drugs are believe to have a street value of over €86,000.

When police had raided the hotel room occupied by Jose Manuel Domingo Benito, who had also just arrived in Malta from Valencia, they had found the drugs stashed in compartments in the man's suitcase, he said.

After learning that Wilcox had arranged to meet Benito, who would be wearing a prearranged outfit and hat, outside the hotel, the police had lain in wait and arrested him.

During his interrogation, the accused had explained that the cocaine was meant to be collected from Benito, in exchange for €1,500 and “had to be delivered to Angelo Bilocca, who lived in a farmhouse in Siggiewi.”

A third man, John Majinbol was also in working with Bilocca and had been in contact with him in order to arrange the delivery of the drugs, said the inspector.

The trial continues. 

Judge Edwina Grima is presiding the jury.

Lawyers Nadia Attard and Kristina Debattista from the Attorney General's office are prosecuting. Wilcox is conducting his own defence.