Man charged with drug offences following police raid in Balzan

A man has been charged with drug related offences after a police raid discovered a trove of illegal drugs and a large amount of cash at his flat in Balzan.

Inspectors Mark Anthony Mercieca and Alfredo Mangion arraigned Godwin Zammit, 66, from Balzan before Magistrate Joe Gatt, charging him with trafficking cocaine and cannabis, possession of those substances in circumstances indicating that they were not for personal use, as well as possession of other illegal psychoactive substances, amongst them ketamine, LSD and magic mushrooms.

The court was told how the police had organised a surveillance operation on a flat in Balzan after receiving information that it was connected to a person involved in the drug trade. Several known players, some of them senior figures in the local drug trade, were observed going to Zammit’s home and leaving after just a few minutes. 

A raid was conducted at Zammit’s flat at 7:15pm yesterday and he was taken into custody. Zammit showed the police €9,500 in cash which he had stashed in an upstairs bedroom,  which he admitted were the proceeds of selling drugs. A bag retrieved from the lower floor of Zammit’s residence was found to contain what police suspect to be around 50g cocaine, some ketamine powder, two full jars of cannabis buds, 20 ecstasy pills, 20 pink pills thought to be synthetic psychedelic drug 2C-B, and two large packets of magic mushrooms. A packet of 25 LSD tabs were also found on the property. 

Inspector Mercieca said that a total of seven types of illegal substances had been found in a backpack, all packaged and ready for distribution, together with digital weighing scales.

He added that when interrogated earlier today, Zammit had opted not to reply to any questions but said that he “assumed responsibility for the substances found in his possession.”
Zammit also told the police that he used several of the substances but chose not to reply when asked whether they were for his personal consumption.

The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his lawyers, Franco Debono and Adreana Zammit, requested bail.

The prosecution objected to Zammit’s release on the grounds of the serious nature of the charges, as well as the fact that investigations were still ongoing, explaining that further arrests were likely.

Debono argued that the Attorney General’s decision to have this case tried by the Court of Magistrates, instead of a trial by jury, indicated that it was being considered as a less serious case.

The law provides tools to prevent the loss or tampering with evidence whilst simultaneously allowing a person who is charged to be released on bail, said the lawyer, arguing that the fact that investigations were still ongoing was not sufficient for bail to be refused.

Debono added that while it was true that a wide variety of drugs had been found, they had not been found in large amounts. “There weren’t kilos of anything,” said the lawyer, reminding the court that Zammit had also told the police that he was a drug user, which entitled him to request the proceedings to be heard by a drug court, which would likely not sentence him to imprisonment if he were to be found guilty.

Inspector Mercieca countered that the defence’s argument about the AG considering the case less serious, stating that this discretion granted to the AG was in fact an efficiency-boosting measure and that the charges were punishable by up to 10 years in jail.

The court, in view of the nature of charges and the large variety of drugs allegedly found in the man’s possession, ruled that it was too early a stage for the court to release Zammit from arrest and remanded him in custody, ordering that next sitting be held within a week from today.