One of five bouncers charged earlier this year with assaulting a man in Paceville on New Year’s Eve landed back in court on Saturday accused of trafficking drugs in that entertainment hub. 

Petar Bajic, a 35-year-old Serbian national living at Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq, was allegedly found in possession of cocaine when approached by police officers on Thursday evening. 

Police had been alerted by a caller who claimed that Bajic was trafficking drugs in Paceville.

At around 9.30pm, officers approached the suspect as soon as he stepped out of his car. 

The man admitted he had drugs in his possession. 

A search of the vehicle yielded some 70 grams of cocaine, packed in five-gram sachets, as well as a pair of scales. 

Bajic was arrested on the spot.

He was one of five security guards who in January was charged with assaulting a man on New Year’s Eve, just minutes before midnight, outside a Paceville club. 

A verbal clash between the bouncers and the alleged victim, Ahmed Adam Idriss Albarjo, escalated into physical violence, with video footage showing the alleged victim being beaten, kicked and hit with a retractable baton as he lay on the ground. 

The alleged victim was subsequently also charged with slightly injuring one of his aggressors who was struck on the back with a broken glass bottle flung at him by the man who had been denied entry at the club.

Bajic was meanwhile also charged with working as a security guard without being duly licenced.

On Saturday, Bajic was escorted back to court, charged with supplying or distributing cocaine, involvement in a drug trafficking conspiracy and aggravated possession of cocaine under circumstances denoting that the drug was not for his personal use.

He was further charged with committing the alleged offences within 100 metres of a place where young people habitually met. 

He pleaded not guilty. 

The court upheld the prosecution’s request for a freezing order over all assets of the accused, except for the monthly allowance in terms of the law. 

No request for bail was made at arraignment stage and the court, presided over by Magistrate Monica Vella, remanded the accused in custody.

Inspector Jonathan Pace prosecuted.

Lawyers Shazoo Ghaznavi and Jessica Formosa were defence counsel.