A 36-year-old woman from Victoria, Gozo was sentenced to two and a half years in prison following charges related to drug trafficking and drug possession.
Dorothy Refalo faced charges related to heroin trafficking which occurred back in March 2010 and the years before.
The police first intercepted the accused on 2 March 2010 during a search they carried out in a bar in Sannat. The police went on to search a residence in the vicinity and found a digital scale, magazine paper cut into small squares. They also noticed that these pieces of paper had traces of a brown substance.
During the first police interrogation, Refalo denied that the items were hers and claimed that she knew nothing about the scale. Later, the police also arrested a certain Jozef Juan Cauchi who had bought heroin from the accused. Cauchi had confirmed that he had bought and sometimes sold heroin himself and was sentenced by the court of magistrates.
Despite denying any knowledge of the drug find, the accused admitted that she had last made use of the heroin drug a month before the arrest. Police inspector Josric Mifsud had told the court that during the search in the residence, the police had also found a bag containing brown powder.
The police had also carried a body search on the accused and although they did not manage to find any other traces of drugs, the police officers testified that they noticed marks on the hands of the accused caused by heroin use. Some of the marks were fresh and had blood coming out of the punctured veins.
Later, the accused admitted to frequent heroin use and said that she used to consume the drug through an injection or by sniffing the powder.
Presiding over the case, Magistrate Joe Mifsud noted the time that has passed since the accused was first arrested.
“The drug problem is taking impressive dimensions and is being sustained by international channels. This is causing more potential danger to our youths,” he writes in his sentence.
He said that the drug problem is a very serious issue which is seriously harming the country.
The presecution was led by inspector Bernard Charles Spiteri. Defence lawyers Franco Debono and Angie Muscat appeard for Refalo. The accused was sent to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay a fine of €1,000.