A 22-year-old woman from Hamrun today was charged with aggravated possession of drugs. The woman, Shana Farrugia, was arrested yesterday as Drug Squad officials discovered a sizeable amount of drugs hidden in a Mitsubishi Pajero.

The drug squad was informed through a tip-off that a van which was parked in Marsa at around 10:30am on Monday contained drugs. The accused was seated on the passenger seat.

Magistrate Neville Camilleri invited the prosecution to put forward their evidence immediately since the case was to be assigned to the same court. Normally, presentation of evidence or witnesses does not take place when a person is charged. Inspector Kevin Pulis took to the stand where he gave a detailed account on the facts about the arrest.

The Magistrate heard how the Drug Squad officers discovered carton boxes behind the passenger seat. The boxes contained some 200 packets of white and brown powder. On the right side of the passenger seat there was another container with seven similar packets. At the time of the arrest, the woman was holding two pouches filled with cash. A designer watch and a number of mobile phones were also discovered in the search.

Police officers then carried out a search at the residence in Cospicua where the accused cohabits with her partner. They found several foreign banknotes, mainly Croatian, and several other mobile phones.

Testifying, Inspector Frank Tabone said that during the interrogation at the police headquarters, which lasted almost two hours, the accused had explained that Monday morning she was given a lift by her partner and his father to go shopping in Hamrun. She said that this was the reason why she had so much cash in the pouches found in the van. Besides she had to pay a vet who had called at some stables belonging to the accused, the court was told. 

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against her and requested bail.

The prosecution objected to this request due to the nature of the offence, and because the investigation was still at a premature stage, with several persons still having to testify.

The defence argued that the accused was a first-time offender with an otherwise clean criminal record sheet. Denying her bail would go against the fundamental presumption of innocence of the accused, lawyer Franco Debono insisted.

The court decided to grant bail against a deposit of €5,000 and a personal guarantee of €15,000.