'Cannabis' haul was only soap

The supposedly 30 kilogrammes of cannabis seized by the police in a dramatic operation last month turned out to be soap.

Testifying yesterday, pharmacist Godwin Sammut said that the big amount of green-coloured bars found in three cardboard boxes did not consist of an illegal substance.

Sitting quietly in the dock, Rupert Busuttil, 34, Carmelo Borg, 31, Marvin Debono, 22, and Paul Azzopardi, 39, heard how the alleged drugs they were importing were nothing but bars of soap.

They stand charged with conspiring to import cannabis.

The police had swooped on a yacht, called the Jolly Roger, on December 27 at about 8 p.m. after receiving information about the place where the "drugs" were meant be dropped off.

Tracking the movements of several people, the police noticed a dinghy leaving a yacht and approaching the coast in an area known as L-Irdum ta' Miġra l-Ferħa, near Mtaħleb.

The police made their move when they intercepted two cars, carrying the men and what they thought was cannabis, leaving the area.

When arraigned, the court heard that Mr Borg and Mr Azzopardi left the island on December 23 aboard the yacht on their way to Libya. With them was a Libyan national.

The men returned four days later with the consignment. As they were arrested on land, members of the Armed Forces of Malta held two others who remained on board.

Police Inspectors Norbert Ciappara, Jesmond Borg and Johann Fenech prosecuted.

Lawyers Gianella Caruana Curran and Manuel Mallia appeared for Mr Busuttil, Mr Borg and Mr Debono.

Legal aid Martin Fenech appeared for Mr Azzopardi.

This case brings to mind the case of Steven Marsden who earlier this month was jailed for 25 years after being found guilty of conspiring to import ecstasy even though the 50,000 pills that he imported were not illegal at the time he was arrested.

It resulted that the pills were not ecstasy but contained the chemical mCPP, which shares several pharmacological properties with MDMA (ecstasy). However, the chemical was not illegal in Malta at the time.

He was, therefore, charged with conspiring to import ecstasy as the prosecution said that Mr Marsden thought he was importing ecstasy.