Jordan Azzopardi associate jailed for cocaine trafficking

22-year-old Ramirez Vella, an associate of drug kingpin Jordan Azzopardi, has been jailed for 8 months on cocaine-related charges.

Vella, who hails from Tarxien, had been named in the ongoing proceedings against Azzopardi. He was convicted of trafficking cocaine but cleared of trafficking heroin.

He had been one of the persons found in a Pietà residence that had been converted into a drug den.

Read also: Man remanded in custody after Pietà drug bust

Vella was arrested on 7 March last year during a police raid on a residence in Triq Mountbatten in Pietà. The location is believed to have formed part of a network of properties used for the sale of drugs.

The properties all had comprehensive CCTV coverage of every entrance as well as reinforced doors and windows.

A cocaine addict had testified to often meeting Vella, who was an employee of Azzopardi’s and who would sell drugs from the residence.

The police had told the court that the occupants, including Vella, had attempted to destroy the drugs by disposing of them in vats of acid which were kept in the property for that very purpose.

Magistrate Josette Demicoli found Vella guilty of cocaine trafficking. Aside from the eight-month prison sentence, Vella was also fined €1,200 and ordered to pay €4,972 in costs.