A suspected drug trafficker who a month ago insisted that he had nothing to do with a cannabis package that landed his friend in court is now in legal trouble himself, after data on his phone linked him to the crime. 

Alejandro Aviles Gonzalvez, a 25-year-old Spaniard living in Swieqi, was arraigned almost one month to date after his co-national David Jimenez Madrigal pleaded not guilty to importing 400 grams of cannabis resin. 

Madrigal was arrested and charged after he turned up at a post office in Luqa to collect a package addressed to a Spanish person at a Sliema residence, which was flagged by customs as suspicious.

The package, a box of board game Ludo, turned out to contain cannabis resin.

Police checks showed that the name of the addressee appeared to be false and the residence was in an abandoned state. 

Aside from Madrigal, police also arrested Aviles Gonzalvez, who accompanied him that day. 

However, Aviles Gonzalvez insisted that he had nothing to do with the parcel, telling police that he had simply gone along with his friend and waited outside while Madrigal went inside to collect the mail. 

He was granted police bail while investigations continued, explained Inspector Marshal Mallia who pressed charges against the second suspect. 

The inspector said that although Aviles Gonzalvez denied any involvement, his mobile phone data suggested otherwise. 

Police came across various photos and WhatsApp chats which appeared to link the accused to the importation of drug parcels mailed to that Sliema address. Other chats showed that he knew that the property was abandoned, but said that he would wait outside in the street.

Moreover, that particular WhatsApp chat was linked to a contact number saved under the Spanish word for “work,” implying that drug importation was the accused’s ‘work,’ said Mallia.

The accused pleaded not guilty to alleged involvement in a drug-trafficking conspiracy, as well as the importation and sale of cannabis resin. 

Although the youth had obeyed all directions while under police bail, the prosecutor pointed out that he had previously told police that he was on holiday but had subsequently come up with a fixed address.

Prosecutors objected to his request for bail, saying the accused appeared to form part of a circle of Spanish nationals importing drugs into Malta. 

Investigations were still ongoing and the fear of absconding was real, they argued. The youth had abided by police bail but that was when he believed that police had no evidence against him.

That changed once investigators unlocked his mobile, argued the prosecutor. 

“Those are pure conjectures,” hit back defence lawyer Franco Debono, arguing that as a matter of fact, the accused had always abided by police bail conditions.

“He knew of the ‘facts’ he was being faced with,” argued the lawyer. “He cooperated under police bail. So why should he not do likewise if this court grants him bail? That is only logical,” persisted the lawyer. 

However, the Court presided over by magistrate Astrid May Grima, turned down the request in light of the nature of the offences and the risk of absconding. 

All the accused's assets have been frozen under the order of the court. 

Inspector Marshal Mallia prosecuted. Lawyers Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb were defence counsel.