A brother and sister arrested on Saturday at Cospicua in a major drug operation that yielded a substantial amount of drugs, cash and firearms, were remanded in custody on Monday.
Joseph Brignone, 31, unemployed and Annalise Brignone, 34, a hospital employee were separately charged with aggravated possession of cocaine, cannabis and psychotropic drugs, within 100 metres of a place visited by youths.
The man was also charged with trafficking the drugs, possession of firearms, handling stolen property as well as relapsing.
The siblings were also charged with money-laundering.
Prosecuting Inspectors Mark Anthony Mercieca from the Drug Squad and Eman Hayman from the Cospicua district station, told Magistrate Rachel Montebello how the weeks-long surveillance operation, supported by a common pool of information, had led to the major bust.
The operation, further supported by the Special Intervention Unit, got underway on Saturday and involved searches in Cospicua, Zabbar, Fgura and Marsascala.
The man was arrested on Saturday night after being blocked by police vehicles at the wheel of his Mitsubishi Shogun in Triq il-Kottonera, Cospicua.
In his bid to get away, he crashed into two police cars but was arrested and handcuffed.
A search on his car yielded a firearm, a machete, €6,000 in cash as well as drugs.
Meanwhile, other police officers zeroed in on two residences in Cospicua, a garage in Fgura and another in Marsascala.
Several kilos of cocaine, cannabis grass and synthetic drugs and cocaine were allegedly found inside the homes of the two siblings, with drugs allegedly stuffed inside a bed post and a wardrobe.
A 'considerable' number of cocaine packets ready for trafficking was seized along with cash and firearms.
The police said they also seized a Toyota Vitz, a Mercedes, a Pajero, two BMW’s and four motorcycles, all allegedly belonging to the suspect.
Inspector Mercieca said that eight weapons were confiscated. He explained that shots had occasionally been fired in the vicinity of the drugs cache so as to scare off any third parties.
Both accused pleaded not guilty.
When making submissions on bail, defence lawyer Franco Debono thanked the courts for holding urgent sessions in a responsible manner in spite of the current “difficult” circumstances and sessions being indefinitely postponed and invited the court to take those circumstances into consideration in its deliberations about bail.
The prosecution rebutted, stressing the gravity of the charges and the fact that police investigations were still ongoing.
In the light of such submissions the court turned down the request for bail and the two were remanded in custody. The woman was in tears as she was being led out of the courtroom.
Lawyer Marion Camilleri was also defence counsel.