A father remanded in custody on Friday after he was originally arrested in a major drug operation at Cospicua in April, has regained his personal freedom almost within the week.
Emanuel Brignone, a 58-year-old Cospicua resident, had landed behind bars under preventive custody last week, three months after his children Joseph and Annalise, had been arraigned over charges stemming from the same raid.
The two had pleaded not guilty to aggravated possession of cocaine, cannabis and psychotropic drugs, as well as alleged money laundering.
Joseph Brignone had been arrested at the wheel of his Mitsubishi Shogun in Triq il-Kottonera, following weeks-long surveillance, in a major operation coordinated by the Drug Squad, the district officers and the Special Intervention Unit.
In attempting to bypass the roadblock, Joseph Brignone had crashed into two police cars but was arrested and handcuffed.
A search on his car had yielded a firearm, a machete, €6,000 in cash, and drugs.
Two residences in Cospicua, a garage in Fgura and another in Marsascala were subsequently searched by police.
Following his children’s arraignments, Emanuel Brignone was granted police bail while investigations continued and was ultimately arraigned last Friday, pleading not guilty to trafficking cannabis, cocaine and synthetic drugs, as well as possession of the drugs under circumstances indicating that they were not intended for his personal use.
The alleged offences were further aggravated by the fact that they were committed within 100 metres of a place frequented by youths.
As proceedings continued against the father on Thursday, various police witnesses testified about those searches.
After hearing those testimonies the court, presided over by magistrate Neville Camilleri, upheld a fresh application for bail, ordering the accused’s release from custody against a deposit of €5,000, a personal guarantee of €20,000, the daily signing of the bail book and under a curfew between 8pm and 6am.
The case continues.
Inspector Mark Anthony Mercieca prosecuted. Lawyers Franco Debono, Amadeus Cachia and Francesca Zarb were defence counsel.