Drug Squad Chief says accused 'surely' not the man behind Sedqa

Norman Bezzina, 55 of Zebbug, a one-time migrant to Canada, and member of former minister Louis Galea’s secretariat, stands charged with conspiracy to import and traffic 2.2 kilos of cocaine in 2001.

The cocaine was allegedly posted from Canada with Bezzina being the person who conspired to have it sent and delivered to himself. Throughout the process, he paid third parties - among whom MaltaPost and Customs officials - to have it cleared and brought to him.

If found guilty, Bezzina could face a maximum of 30 years in prison.

During his testimony, Superintendent Neil Harrison who led the investigations at the time, that a second parcel was in fact sent from Canada to Malta and managed to get through the system. Police believe that this package also contained cocaine.

But during the sting that intercepted the package with drugs, the police bided their time and monitored the movements of a number of people since its arrival from Canada.

According to Supt. Harrison, the first parcel had arrived from Toronto on 14 March 2001. It had been posted on 22 Februrary 2001 and was cleared by Manuel Gauci, a Customs officer.

Gauci, who was also a security officer at the PN headquarters at the time, was arrested, charged and sentenced.

The second packet which allegedly contained drugs from Toronto was sent on 21 March 2001. It arrived at the Malta post on 26 March 2001 was declared  to contain autoparts.

Through a series of telephone calls, friends of Norman Bezzina were overheard preparing to collect the parcel and deliver it to him.

Harrison testified that a certain Toni Gatt had been approached by the accused to assist him over a package

Harrison told the court that Bezzina had approached a MaltaPost official who worked in the Central Mail Room to assist him in clearing a package for his friends and complained that there had been no difficulties in clearing the first package, and also in clearing second package by postal authorties in view of its differeing weight.

The package was subsequently sent to the Hamrun Post Office for collection.

It was explained that there was a first attempt to release the package though Joe Portelli, but they did not manage, hence they tried to release it through another official.

It was at this point that the police managed to obtain an official warrant by a magistrate who ordered the opening of the package and have it kept under controlled surveillance.  The second package contained 2.2 kilograms of cocaine together with a silencer tube.

Cross-examimed by defence lawyer Manwel Mallia, Superintendent Neil Harrison explained that no extraditon order had been filed for against the persons who had sent the packages from Canada to Malta.

Neither had the police had made contacts with the company that had insured the package that was sent from Canada to Malta.

The police did not arrest a certain ‘Charlie c-Ciniz’ about his involvement in the drug trafficking operations.

The trial continues this morning