Updated 3.35pm 

A woman whose boyfriend is facing criminal charges in connection with an army barracks drug heist has also been charged with that crime.

Christa Gauci, 21, pleaded not guilty to having taken part in the theft of 200kg of cannabis resin and its subsequent trafficking.

Gauci admitted to investigators that she drove a Toyota Vitz seen in the vicinity of the crime scene, a court heard during her arraignment on Friday.

Prosecutors told the court that police investigators had used CCTV footage to track vehicles to and from the Safi barracks where the robbery took place. Footage showed two vehicles driving together, with Gauci’s Toyota pulling into a service road next to the Kirkop roundabout.

After the heist, CCTV footage traced Gauci’s car back to a garage in Żebbuġ belonging to Sean Attard.

Phone records obtained by the police showed that Gauci’s phone location aligned perfectly with the route taken by the drug thieves, the court heard. Gauci told officers that she did not have her phone with her that night.

Defence lawyers sought to obtain bail for their client, arguing that the case presented against her was “hazy” and noting that Gauci had turned herself in to the police of her own volition.

Prosecutors objected to the request, saying the investigation is ongoing and 120kg of the stolen cannabis resin is still missing.

The court denied the bail request, saying it expects more people to be charged in connection with the crime. Gauci was remanded in custody. 

Gauci was defended by lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Adreana Zammit.

Attorney General lawyer Daniel Tabone prosecuted alongside Police Inspectors Joseph Mercieca and Mark Mercieca.

Family affair

Gauci is the girlfriend of Cleaven Pace, a 19-year-old who was among four people charged with the heist on Wednesday. Cleaven’s brother, Carlos Pace, was also charged with the robbery, as was Attard, the owner of the Żebbuġ garage which Gauci is alleged to driven to.

The others facing charges are Liam Steward, 23, and Yousef Essesi, 33. All of the accused, except for Cleaven Pace, were found with drugs inspectors believe were linked to the heist. 

The robbery was revealed by Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri on Sunday, when he offered his resignation and suspended the Brigadier of the Armed Forces of Malta. However, Camilleri decided to stay in post after the prime minister refused to accept his resignation and the cabinet moved to back him. 

Earlier on Friday, the Pace brothers’ father, mother and stepsister pleaded guilty to having insulted and threatened journalists outside the law courts on the day the brothers were arraigned.  

Keith Pace, the father of the two and who is well-known to the police, received a suspended sentence for having threatened the reporters. The other two were given probation orders.