Nineteen people were yesterday charged with conspiring to deal in four kilogrammes of cocaine and one kilogramme of cannabis here and in Italy last May, appearing in court amid tight security involving a score of police officers ranking as high as superintendent.
Four prisoners were among the defendants: Leli Camilleri, 37, better known as il-Bully, who opted to file a guilty plea to all the charges brought against him; Mario Camilleri, 40, l-Imniehru; Charles Muscat, 35, il-Pips and Alfred Bugeja, 44, il-Porporina.
The police also arraigned Leli Camilleri's girlfriend Trudy Testa, 27, of Mqabba, his former girlfriend champion bowler Sue Abela, 36, of Sliema, and his brother John, 34, of Mqabba, Mario Camilleri's wife Mona, 30, of Valletta and his son Pierre, 20, Muscat's wife Yvette, 38, of l-Iklin and Bugeja's brother Albert, 30, of Gzira.
Anthony Gatt 49, and his girlfriend Carmen Armeni, 41, of Mqabba and Armeni's sister Sylvana Bugeja, 29, of Gharghur, Romeo Bone, 26, of Floriana, Isaac Chetcuti, 25, of Sliema, Noel Borg, 29, of Bahar ic-Caghaq, Daniel-Victor Bonnici, 26, of Burmarrad and Juma Said Karfoosh, 35, of Hamrun.
All but Abela were charged with:-
¤ conspiring to traffic in cocaine and cannabis on May 30 and in the previous six months, and
¤ conspiring in Malta to commit a crime abroad on May 30 and in the previous six months
Abela was charged with:-
¤ conspiring to traffic in cocaine and cannabis on May 30 and in the previous seven years, and
¤ conspiring in Malta to commit a crime abroad on May 30 and in the previous seven years.
Chetcuti was also charged with the possession of cannabis plant and resin on August 1 and in the previous six months.
Sylvana Bugeja was also charged with the possession of cannabis plant and resin on August 3 and in the previous six months.
Charles Muscat was also charged with the possession of heroin on and before August 8.
Leli Camilleri, Mario Camilleri, Alfred Bugeja, Bone and Chetcuti were also charge with relapsing and Bone alone was also charged with breaching the conditions of a previous release.
After the charges were read out at about 11 a.m., the defendants were asked to state their particulars for the record. When it came to Charles Muscat's turn, he was fined Lm30 after he was found in contempt of court for being facetious.
He immediately apologised and his lawyer, Dr Giannella Caruana Curran claimed that her client had been exposed to systematic character assassination in the media over the years and was a little apprehensive.
The defendants filed not guilty pleas, bar Leli Camilleri. Sylvana Bugeja pleaded guilty only to the possession of cannabis.
Magistrate Giovanni Grixti then moved to hear Police Inspector Neil Harrison, prosecuting, explain what had led him to opt to arraign the defendants under arrest.
He said he had received instructions from the Attorney General's office since the charges bore a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.
The inspector explained that his investigations had led him to question Raymond Borg and Fabio Psaila, two men currently serving time in Catania for trafficking in four kilogrammes of cocaine and one of cannabis. He spoke to Borg and Psaila in Catania on October 24.
Defence lawyers then called on the court to declare the arrest illegal, arguing that the reasons given by the inspector were based on a section of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance which had been declared unconstitutional.
The lawyers claimed that their clients had been aware of the investigations since August, knew they were going to be taken to court, but had never tried to abscond or tamper with evidence.
They also pointed out that an article published in the Sunday newspaper KullHadd on August 24 had laid out all the details of the case including the names of the suspects which meant that the case had become public knowledge.
Magistrate Grixti put off the case to 4 p.m. for a ruling on the matter and eventually declared the arrest legal in view of the serious nature of the charges and ruled that the investigation had been based on reasonable suspicion.
Lawyers then moved to file requests for bail. All the requests were denied except that of Trudy Testa on humanitarian grounds.
Magistrate Grixti ruled the case involved the alleged correspondence of 19 people in the commission of a crime punishable with life imprisonment and ruled that although they had not tried to abscond or tamper with evidence, there was no guarantee that they would not, now that they knew the consequences of the charges.
Testa was however granted bail on condition she does not leave her house without authorisation from the court. She was bound by a personal guarantee of Lm5,000.
The case continues.
Police Inspectors Neil Harrison and Norbert Ciappara prosecuted.
Dr Ian Farrugia, Dr Michael Sciriha, Dr John Attard Montalto and Dr Philip Galea Farrugia appeared for Mario and Pierre Camilleri and Emanuel and John Camilleri.
Dr Joseph Giglio appeared for Bone, Chetcuti, Gatt, Armeni, Sylvana Bugeja and Karfoosh; Dr Giannella Caruana Curran appeared for Charles and Yvette Muscat; Dr Jason Azzopardi and Dr Kris Busietta appeared for Mona Camilleri.
Dr Anna Mallia appeared for Testa; Dr Martin Fenech appeared for Borg; Dr Franco Debono appeared for Bonnici; Dr Chris Grima appeared for Abela and Dr Deborah Attard appeared for Albert Bugeja. Alfred Bugeja chose to appear unrepresented.