Man charged with trafficking heroin after car chase arrest

A man who allegedly threw 30 sachets of heroin out of his car while being chased by the police has been released on bail after denying drug trafficking charges.

Inspector Clayton Camilleri charged 49-year-old Patrick Borg from Birkirkara with both trafficking and aggravated possession of heroin within 100 metres from a place where young people normally congregated, as well as recidivism.

The court was told that the police had been following Borg and another two suspects after receiving a tip-off about possible drug trafficking. 

Inspector Camilleri explained that on April 24, at around 2:00pm, an anonymous phone call to the Birkirkara police station had reported suspicious-looking people on the corner of Triq it-Torri and Triq Swatar. Officers had gone to the location and spotted a car with two people sitting inside it talking to another person standing next to it. As the police car approached, two of the men had scattered, leaving the defendant alone, sitting behind the wheel of the car.

A car chase had ensued, during which Borg was seen to throw three bags out of the car’s window. The three bags were later found to each contain ten sachets of small doses of heroin. Despite their efforts, all three men had been arrested. 

When he was stopped, the other two fled. The three bags he was seen throwing out of the car each contained ten sachets of small doses of heroin, police inspector Clayton Camilleri told Magistrate Victor Axiak. 

Borg pleaded not guilty to the charges and requested bail. 

His lawyers, Franco Debono and Adreana Zammit, submitted that the global amount of heroin retrieved had not even been established, yet the charges had been issued nonetheless. Inspector Camilleri rebutted that this was a job for court experts. He could not be expected to weigh the exhibits himself, as this could lead to DNA contamination and other risks.

The court upheld the request for bail, releasing Borg from arrest against a €500 deposit and a €10,000 personal guarantee. He was ordered to sign the bail book twice a week and not to speak to any of the prosecution’s witnesses.