Court told how ex-policeman offered to sell 1kg of heroin

A magistrate yesterday heard how the police filmed a former police constable give a heroin sample to a man, thinking this would be forwarded to people interested in buying up to a kilogramme of the drug.

But the man, who was assisting the police in their investigations, later handed over the sample to officers for testing and helped in organising a controlled delivery, Supt Neil Harrison told the court.

He was testifying before Magistrate Saviour Demicoli in the compilation of evidence against former constable Jean Pierre Abdilla, 29, of Zurrieq. Mr Abdilla is pleading not guilty to conspiring to deal in heroin, trafficking in the drug, and breaching administrative law enforcement regulations on and before March this year.

The sitting yesterday was characterised by legal arguments between Supt Harrison, prosecuting, and lawyer Franco Debono, for Mr Abdilla.

In his testimonySupt Harrison explained that on February 22 he received a phone call from a man who was undergoing proceedings for drug trafficking.

The man, whose identity cannot be revealed by court order, told theSupt Mr Abdilla had approached him and asked if he knew of anyone interested in buying half a kilogrammes of heroin at Lm25 per gramme.

The man told Mr Abdilla he would let him know. Mr Abdilla gave him a confidential mobile number on which to contact him and, soon after their conversation, the man contacted the superintendent.

Supt Harrison told the informer not to contact Mr Abdilla until he got a magistrate's authorisation to carry out a controlled delivery.

The following day, with a court authorisation in hand, Supt Harrison instructed the informer to speak to Mr Abdilla. So the man called Mr Abdilla, told him he had someone interested in buying and the two men agreed to meet in the parking area of the old airport in Luqa.

The police filmed the encounter during which, the man told officers, Mr Abdilla had told him he could provide the buyer with up to one kilogramme of heroin. Mr Abdilla also said that the heroin was not at him, adding there were third parties involved. They planned another meeting but Mr Abdilla did not want to meet at the old airport again noting there were closed-circuit cameras. At the next meeting Mr Abdilla was to provide the man with a sample to show to the buyers.

A couple of days later, the man called Mr Abdilla, as agreed, and they decided to meet at the Luqa bocci club. The police asked the informer to change the venue as there was the market in Luqa and there would be too many people to monitor.

The informer asked Mr Abdilla to meet elsewhere. He initially suggested meeting near the tunnels in Kirkop. But Mr Abdilla called to suggest they meet near the swings in Safi because he had received an anonymous phone call informing him that police were after him.

Supt Harrison said he did not send his men to the meeting in light of the circumstances and later the man informed him Mr Abdilla had not brought the sample after receiving the call.

Then the two men set a meeting at the Luqa bocci club and there the police filmed Mr Abdilla give the man a gold coloured piece of foil. The informer handed over the foil to the police soon after. It contained brown powder which turned out to be just under a gramme of heroin.

Supt Harrison explained that, as he had to go abroad for a week, he organised a meeting between assistant police commissioner Paul Debattista and the informer. The man was instructed to keep in contact with the assistant commissioner and the controlled delivery was planned.

The witness added that he was later informed that the man met Mr Abdilla near the Safi swings and drove after him to a garage where the exchange was to take place. There Mr Abdilla told the man that, when the delivery date was set, he (the informer) would bring the Lm25,000 which Mr Abdilla would count. After that someone would arrive and take the money and the drugs would be delivered at a later stage.

The man told Mr Abdilla he would have to speak to the buyers, when in reality he had to inform the police. The police instructed him to tell Mr Abdilla the buyers disagreed with the plan and wanted the see the heroin before paying. After consulting with third parties Mr Abdilla said the conditions laid down by the buyers were unacceptable and the deal never took place.

The informer told the police that the next time he saw Mr Abdilla was when he went to collect Lm20 as payment for the sample he had given him.

Supt Harrison went on to explain how a search and arrest warrant was issued and Mr Abdilla was arrested in Gudja. During a search at his house several bird carcases, some stuffed, were found in a freezer. Some resulted to be protected species. Mr Abdilla was also investigated for human trafficking, the witness said.

At the end of the sitting Magistrate Demicoli ruled there were sufficient reasons for Mr Abdilla to be indicted.