A construction worker facing trial for aggravated drug possession following the discovery of 20 cannabis resin blocks inside a truck outside a Mosta garage 15 years ago, was found guilty late on Thursday evening.
Jurors at the trial of Jesmond Mary Vella retired to deliberate on Thursday afternoon and returned with a guilty verdict of six votes against three at around 10.30pm.
While the jurors were relieved of their duties, the accused was remanded in custody pending submissions on punishment and sentencing by Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera, who presided over the trial, on Monday.
Vella, now 47, known as il-Bulgaru, had landed under police surveillance back in June 2008 over suspected involvement in illicit drug activity.
That was why police were monitoring Vella’s movements and keeping a close watch on a garage in Triq in-Naġġar, Mosta, frequented by the suspect.
A search was carried out in those premises on June 19, 2008 when police came across two boats and two vehicles, a Volvo and a Land Rover.
That part of the search gave negative results.
But when police focused their attention to a Bedford truck, parked outside close by, they came across a metal bucket-like container in the open box at the back.
And there, stacked away under a bag of state bread, they found 20 blocks of cannabis resin weighing 4,827.3 grams.
The substance was later examined and certified as having 8.2% purity, with a market value of €30,943.
Vella was subsequently charged with possession of those drugs under circumstances denoting that they were not intended solely for personal use.
He was also charged with relapsing.
When testifying at the trial on Tuesday, Vella’s former employer and owner of the truck, Ġanni Xuereb, said that unknown persons used to dump all sorts of rubbish inside the vehicle’s open box.
He explained that although the vehicle was registered in his name, it was Vella who drove it because he [Xuereb] found it too cumbersome.
That Bedford model - a photo of which was shown on the court monitor - had a red cabin and an open green box at the back.
Xuereb and Vella would unload their tools at the end of their work day and store them in that garage which Xuereb rented.
At the time of the discovery, the truck had been parked outside for a month or so since it had developed some fault and its owner had decided not to renew its licence once it expired.
Xuereb could not recall whether the vehicle could be locked, blaming his failing memory, but confirming that when questioned by the police at the time of the incident, he had said that “all sorts of rubbish was dumped into it [the truck]… garbage bags… It was like a skip.”
Asked directly by the judge, Xuereb confirmed that statement again.
AG lawyers Kevin Valletta and Daniel Tabone prosecuted.