A man and a woman arrested following raids on a Valletta property believed of serving as a crack cocaine processing site have pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges. 

A third suspect arrested in a related police raid in Marsa also pleaded not guilty to drugs charges following his arraignment on Wednesday. 

The raids took place on Tuesday morning and involved a heavy police presence, though the Valletta raid yielded a relatively small amount of drugs, a court heard on Wednesday. 

Judith Bakoush, a 31-year old Valletta housewife and Morat Abdikadir Mohammed Naswan, a Libyan-born 31 year old Valletta resident, who said he was unemployed but got “assistance from his family,” were arraigned first, facing separate charges.

Bakoush pleaded not guilty to procuring cocaine and heroin, trafficking cannabis, possession of the drugs under circumstances denoting that they were not for his personal use, as well as possession of psychotropic drugs.

She was also charged with possessing funds derived from such drug trafficking activities, usury and money laundering, besides allegedly breaching two bail decrees and relapsing. 

Naswan faced similar charges, except for money laundering and usury.

Both pleaded not guilty.

Bakoush fidgeted on her seat before the hearing got underway, occasionally standing up to speak to her lawyers or turning on her seat to pass some comment to a family relative who was present at the arraignment.

Her restlessness did not go unnoticed by Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech who urged her to calm down and behave properly in court. 

“It’s not that I’ll be going to jail, but it’s my son,” the woman blurted out loudly, saying that she was crying and giggling at the same time simply to vent her anxiety and troubles. 

Her alleged partner in crime turned and touched her, drawing a sharp rebuke by the magistrate.

“I was just wiping away her tears,” the man explained. 

As the hearing got underway, the prosecution explained that over the last months Valletta police, together with community police and the drugs squad were monitoring a residence at Old Hospital Street, Valletta.  

They got “voluminous evidence” to indicate that drug trafficking was taking place and that minors were also possibly involved. 

In the last days, they sensed the need to raid three residences and subsequently a fourth, and an arrest warrant was obtained to that effect.

One of those residences had been turned into a sort of “fortress”, said prosecuting Inspector Kevin Pulis as he explained why officers from the special intervention unit were involved. 

Asked by defence lawyer Franco Debono about the approximate amount of drugs seized during the raids, the prosecution replied that there were some 20 sachets, all ready for trafficking.

The white substance is suspected of being crack cocaine.

The amounts were not large but everything indicated that all were ready for trafficking and when put together, the total amount of drugs was “definitely over 10 grams,” the inspector said. 

In addition, there was a considerable amount of gold, including many bracelets and Rolex watches, as well as branded items and “thousands in cash” found on-site. 

Though both Bakoush and Naswan were out on bail, the accused had managed to amass all those items in a relatively short while, pointed out prosecuting Inspector Mark Anthony Mercieca. 

No request for bail was made at arraignment stage and the court upheld a request by the prosecution for a freezing order over all assets of the accused.

Next in line was Joseph Borg, 50, from Marsascala , unemployed, who also pleaded not guilty to procuring cocaine and heroin, cannabis trafficking, possession of the drugs under circumstances indicating that they were not for personal use.

He was also charged with possession of psychotropic drugs as well as breaching two bail decrees. 

The prosecution explained that the accused was tracked down when police continued their searches at some stables in Marsa. 

Borg too pleaded not guilty and his lawyers did not request bail. 

Inspectors Mark Anthony Mercieca, Kevin Pulis and Mark Cremona prosecuted. Lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Francesca Zarb assisted Bakoush and Naswan.Lawyers Charles Mercieca, Gianluca Caruana Curran and Ana Thomas assisted Borg.