Chef caught with boxes of cannabis says he thought he was moving appliances

A man charged with associating himself with cannabis trafficking told jurors that, had he known what was inside the boxes, he would have taped them to the roof of another man’s car, insisting he believed he was transporting appliances.

Austin Mallia, 40, is pleading not guilty to cannabis trafficking and aggravated possession, though he has admitted to cocaine possession. After the prosecution closed its case on Thursday, defence lawyer Joe Giglio announced Mallia would testify.

A chef for 27 years, Mallia said he was working at a hotel at the time of his arrest in March 2018. He was married, renovating a flat in Gżira and living with his parents and siblings in Santa Venera. His wife had travelled to Bulgaria for medical tests after two miscarriages.

Mallia met Sicilian Michele Artale, who worked as a pizzaiolo for his brother and was under police surveillance. They first met outside a garage in Attard and later at a Sliema restaurant. Mallia said he occasionally helped his brother transport items and sometimes carried goods for €50 a trip using his father’s truck.

He would often see Artale at Lija Boċċi Club and assumed he was using cocaine after noticing repeated trips to the toilet. Artale once told him he could source “good stuff”, and Mallia later bought a gram.

One day, after work, his father received a call and asked: “Do you want to make some money?” Mallia agreed to transport items for Artale from Buġibba to his empty house in Iklin which had three freezers in one room. He made several such trips, sometimes accepting cocaine instead of cash.

On March 22, 2018 — “the day”, as he called it — Artale asked if the truck was available. Mallia said he was instructed to move a freezer and collect boxes from a Ta’ Qali warehouse before heading to Buġibba and Ħamrun. He would be accompanied by Artale's friend, Sandro Lo Presti.

The truck had faulty brakes but Mallia insisted he was still able to drive it.

Lo Presti failed to show up initially but Artale asked Mallia to wait for him, before announcing a "change of plans" and instructed Mallia to go to the Ta'Qali warehouse before they closed.

Lo Presti eventually met him at the warehouse where Mallia was collecting the "Cambio Stile" shipment. A shipment fee was due but Mallia refused to pay, claiming he was only responsible for delivery. 

After signing for the goods, Lo Presti started loading boxes in his small car. 

“He [Artale] thought the boxers was bigger,” Mallia recalled Lo Presti telling him, insisting once more that he was not trusting Lo Presti.

Artale then called Mallia, with the latter informing him that Lo Presti was trying to load the boxes into his car. Mallia passed his phone to Lo Presti and after they hung up, Lo Presti told the witness there had been a “misunderstanding”.

“All of this did not make sense to me,” Mallia said, referring to Lo Presti’s attempt to load all three boxes into his small vehicle when there was the truck loaded with a chest freezer which was meant to be delivered to Ħamrun.

Jurors were then shown CCTV footage from the warehouse.

As Mallia explained to the jurors what they were seeing, the witness remarked: “Had I known what was in the box, I would have loaded it on the roof of his [Lo Presti’s] car even with tape. Had I known I would end in this situation.”

He added that they had agreed most likely on €50 per trip but Mallia was not paid on the day because they were arrested.

They then drove to Ħamrun and parked.

Arrest

The first freezer was unloaded and placed in the common area of the apartment block and not inside the garage. When they were placing the third box inside, a man with a revolver came inside and started shouting in Italian, Maltese and English.

“I was shocked. They pinned me to the ground. I overheard Sandro arguing with the police but could not see anything because I was pinned to the ground with my face looking at the chest freezers. I was told not to move and there was some commotion,” Mallia said.

“Lo Presti then calmed down. I was telling myself ‘look what they got me in’. Several officers came in. There was a person with a camera taking photos – referring to the scene of crime officers – and they explained to me that the truck would be towed away and I would be taken to the Police Headquarters,” Mallia said.

“I started sobbing. I thought of my parents, wife, and did not want to worry anyone. For €50 I ended up in this situation,” Mallia said.

Mallia insisted that he was under a shock and did not trust anyone. “I was waiting for the police to find that there was nothing. I never expected a serious freight company shipping sealed boxes would have shipped boxes containing those things [drugs].”

“My role was to transport objects from point A to point B, and not be involved in this stuff,” Mallia recalled telling an officer, who suggested that the man engages a lawyer.

“I told him I don’t need one,” Mallia recalled.

The next day, the police explained his rights again but he refused to be assisted by a lawyer. The man said he thought he would be held for 48 hours and be released after his statement.

“I cried a lot. I spoke to my father and he told me not to worry. I told him to find a way to tell my wife,” Mallia said, adding that it was how he discovered she was pregnant.

The next day he was taken to court to give a sworn statement and he was given a  legal aid lawyer, who advised him not to reply to anything and deny his involvement, which he did.

Giglio then asked Mallia about his statement to the police.

The witness confirmed he gave the officers access to his phone and showed them messages with Artale, arguing that he was sent to collect the items and transport them.

He also spoke about another message with Artale in which he asked him for another gram of cocaine.

Asked about his life nowadays, Mallia said he no longer transported items after his arrest, and he hated that job. He is still a chef.

“On the day, I was under the impression I had been transporting appliances,” the man insisted.

He also mentioned a series of health issues after his arrest.

“I am very angry,” Mallia said, as prosecutor Godwin Cini objected to the line of questioning.

The jurors were then ordered out, as the prosecution continued to object on the line of questioning saying it was aimed at influencing the jurors.

The court then said it would allow the defence lawyer to show photos of the ultrasound found on Mallia’s phone to the jurors but the man cannot speak about the health issues, which could have been caused by anything.

Prosecutor Danika Vella then cross-examined the witness where she asked him about some phone messages and when the truck had developed a fault with its brakes, pointing out that the police monitoring his movements never mentioned that Mallia had stopped the truck to retrieve the brake pads.

He insisted that he retrieved them from the road after hearing a sound of metal clanging on the ground.

She also confronted him about calls from a mobile phone number, which Mallia did not recognised, and Mallia received five calls in March and Lo Presti three calls in February.

“I don’t know who it belongs to,” Mallia insisted.

“All I know is that my father could have been transporting the goods,” Mallia remarked.

Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera is presiding over the trial by jury.

AG lawyers Godwin Cini and Danika Vella are prosecuting.

Lawyers Joe Giglio and Mattea Giglio are assisting the accused.