An unsuspecting drug trafficker who walked up to three plainclothes policemen asking “do you want to buy weed?,” had been jailed and fined after admitting to his criminal wrongdoing.

Aseyr Ahmed Mustafa, a 28-year-old Somali living at Gzira, was arrested on the eve of his birthday after unknowingly giving himself away to police officers patrolling the streets of St Julian’s on November 30.

A court was told that the officers noticed two persons in the crowd walking up to clubbers asking them if they wanted to purchase illicit substances.

The person approaching prospective customers would refer them to a second person who would collect the money and direct the customer to a third colleague who supplied the drug, explained prosecuting Inspector John Leigh Howard.

He explained that three of his colleagues were patrolling the streets of Paceville undercover when a man walked up to them.

“Do you want to buy weed?”he asked.

It was the defendant.

A personal search of the suspect yielded a couple of sachets of cannabis grass.

Mustafa was arraigned and charged with selling the drug, possession of cannabis grass under circumstances denoting that it was not solely for personal use and committing these offences within 100 metres of a place frequented by youths.

He was also charged with relapsing.

After consulting his legal aid lawyer, the man registered an admission.

“Do you understand the consequences of your admission?…Are you sure?”asked presiding Magistrates Jean Paul Grech.

“Yes guilty…I have no choice,” replied the accused, putting his hands to his head as he sank down on the bench.

When meting out punishment the court observed that although the accused had registered an early guilty plea, it could not ignore the fact that he had been trafficking drugs on a Saturday night in an entertainment area full of young people, thus exposing them to danger.

And moreover, the accused had two previous convictions. The court thus could not impose a minimum punishment.

The accused was condemned to an 18-month effective jail term and a €500 fine. The confiscated drugs were to be destroyed.

AG lawyer Daniel Tabone also prosecuted.