A man was acquitted of drug trafficking today after a court found that what were supposed to be 12,213 ecstasy pills were actually caffeine pills.

Joseph Buttigieg, 39 of Marsa, was arrested after a raid on his house. The pills were found in his night table.

He told the police that he had been taking cocaine for 10 years and ecstasy for three years.

However a chemist told the court that the drugs found in Mr Buttigieg's house were actually caffeine, which was a stimulant which did not fall within the controlled drugs law.

The court said the court could not find the accused guilty of drug trafficking, once the pills were not ecstasy.

However the accused himself had admitted to having been in possession of ecstasy and cocaine. He had claimed to have taken as many as 50 pills a day, because the pills were not any good. Indeed, they were not ecstasy.

He was found guilty of cocaine possession in view of his admission, and sentenced to four months jail suspended for 18 months. 

Drs Veronique Dalli and Dean Hili were defence counsel.