Three charged with conspiracy to traffic drugs

The three were arrested after an operation by the Drugs Squad in Swieqi flat this week

(Stock photo)
(Stock photo)

Three men have been remanded in custody on drug trafficking charges after a Drugs Squad operation in the Swieqi area earlier this week.

Police Inspector Kevin Pulis arraigned Jason Micallef, 24, from Cospicua, Marco Acimovic, 40 from Serbia and Joseph Borg, 47, from Qormi before magistrate Joe Mifsud on Saturday.

The men had been arrested by police officers from the Drugs Squad and Rapid Intervention Unit on Thursday, after officers converged on a vehicle and a residence in Swieqi.

Micallef had been a passenger in the car driven by Borg, in which two large bags of cannabis grass were found. A further two kilogrammes of the drug were found in the residence, where Acimovic was arrested as he tried to flush the evidence down the toilet. In a statement issued last night, the police said that some of the drugs had to be recovered from the sewerage system.

The prosecuting inspector told the court how the police had been observing the men and had followed two of them to Swieqi. Police watched as the car driven by Borg stopped outside a building and Micallef went inside to retrieve a suitcase. The net was closed once the passenger returned to the car.

All three were charged with conspiracy to traffic drugs and possession of cannabis in circumstances indicating that the drug was not for their personal use.

Borg and Acimovic were also charged with illegal possession of cocaine. The two Maltese men were further charged with breaching bail, while Micallef was separately charged with recidivism.

Acimovic was additionally charged with attempting to destroy evidence.

All three pleaded not guilty.

The Maltese men did not request bail and a request for bail by Acimovic was turned down by the court.

The court upheld the prosecution’s request for the freezing of all assets belonging to the accused, aside from a yearly allowance of   €13,982

Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri were counsel to Micallef. Lawyers Gianluca Caruana Curran and Jacques Grima were counsel to Borg. Lawyer Joseph Brincat was legal aid counsel to Acimovic.