Alleged drug kingpin Jordan Azzopardi, who was arrested after a car chase in Madliena two weeks ago, said in court on Thursday that he had not realized that it was the police who were chasing him and he wanted to get away because of threats he had faced in the past.

Details of the car chase leading up to the arrest emerged when the 33-year-old man, who was out on bail over separate drug-related charges, returned to court following his arraignment on July 23.

Officers involved in the car chase and subsequent arrest testified how on that July 22 afternoon, police had been keeping watch on Azzopardi’s movements after receiving confidential information that he was involved in drug trafficking and was heading back home.

Around 3.30pm, an officer spotted Azzopardi driving a grey BMW in the area of WellBees supermarket, Naxxar, heading towards Gharghur.

Police kept Azzopardi in sight as he approached Gharghur church and drove on to Madliena bridge.

Azzopardi stopped when the traffic lights turned red and pulled down his sun visor, said PC Christopher Saliba.

Two police cars made a first attempt to block the BMW but the driver suddenly reversed and drove against the flow of traffic, hitting three third party vehicles.

As a white Bedford van with a green stripe approached, Azzopardi drove past and was seen flinging “something” out of the window.

“I saw something white being thrown out of driver’s window. I can’t tell what it was but to me it was a bag,” explained the witness, when questioned by defence lawyer Charles Mercieca.

Some metres ahead, police finally managed to block Azzopardi.

He immediately put both hands out of the driver’s window and was placed under arrest.

The witness said Azzopardi and his vehicle were searched, and both searches proved negative.

He was later escorted to his home at nearby Busietta Gardens. The residence was also searched but nothing illegal was found.

Cocaine thrown out of car window

Police returned to the spot where Azzopardi allegedly threw something out of the window and came across a bag and whitish substance scattered over the ground.

A chemist appointed as expert by the inquiring magistrate found that the substance was 133 grams of cocaine. 

Police Inspector Alfredo Mangion said the licence disc on Azzopardi’s BMW was found to belong to a totally different vehicle.

He said that under interrogation, Azzopardi told investigators that he never realized that he was being chased by police cars and wanted to get away because he was afraid, adding that he had received threats in the past.

Azzopardi claimed that he was afraid of certain individuals but never filed a police report naming one of the persons he feared.

A Naxxar resident also gave a first-hand account of that Friday afternoon.

She said she had been driving from Madliena to Gharghur at around 3:45pm, her two teenage kids seated as passengers, when she came across some white vehicles and a black car blocking the road.

“I had no idea what was going on,” said the woman.

As she sat behind the wheel, a grey BMW suddenly drove towards her, squeezing through the tight space between her car and the roadside rock face, to avoid the other vehicles.

The BMW driver brushed past, damaging her vehicle in the process, recalled the woman, adding that she had managed to record its number plate but was unable to identify the male driver.

As she got out of her vehicle and looked across the valley, she followed the car chase which ended with the man’s arrest.

“There was some commotion there,” explained the witness.

Meanwhile, the driver of a pickup van who had stopped just behind her vehicle, offered to go fetch police to check on the damage caused to her car.

The witness presented documents attesting the nature and extent of expenses incurred in the incident.

Damages to her car totaled €2900.97 and she also had to rent a car while her own was being fixed and had to pay €100 to open an insurance claim.

Azzopardi’s lawyers informed the court that the accused was prepared to cover those damages.

The court decided that a request for bail would be tackled once other civilian witnesses testified at the next sitting.

The case continues.

Inspector Alfredo Mangion prosecuted.

Lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri, Charles Mercieca and Gianluca Caruana Curran are defence counsel.