A part-time farmer is standing trial over trafficking cannabis after he was found in possession of over 19 kilogrammes of dried cannabis leaves worth €47,099.93 (Lm20,220), which he allegedly cultivated.
Before Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono, Paul Muscat, 59, from Nadur, pleaded not guilty to conspiring to cultivate and care for the cannabis plants that reached 10 feet in height. He was also charged with trafficking the drug and being in possession of the drug in instances denoting that it was not for his personal use.
Forensic expert Mario Mifsud said in court that the one could make 12,867 joints out of the cannabis seized. He added that the amount could be used to produce 63,799 joints if cannabis were to be mixed with tobacco.
According to the charges pressed against him, Mr Muscat had conspired with other people to cultivate cannabis in his fields and sell the drug. He had also agreed to supply other people for which he was paid considerable amounts of money.
Prosecutor Lara Lanfranco said the a few days prior to his arrest, the defendant had said that he had entered into an agreement to sell cannabis, for which he was expecting to net €5,590.50 (Lm2,400)
Police Inspector Nezren Grixti testified that the police had been tipped off about the defendant and the police had put him under surveillance. Groups of policemen were placed at the man’s residence in Triq Dun Guzepp Vella, Nadur and his fields.
On 16 December 2003, at 5.30pm, Inspector Grixti was informed by Superintendent Neil Harrison that the accused had left his home on a motorcycle similar to a Lambretta and was seen driving towards his field located at Triq Wied Bingemma, tal-Konfittier area limits of Nadur.
He was also noted carrying a flour sack and returning to his residence at 6.30pm. The defendant was observed leaving his house again and driving towards his other field at Qortin, limits of Qala. After parking his motorcycle, Mr Mifsud was seen resting the sack he was carrying beside a rubble wall.
Inspector Grixti and another policeman stopped Mr Mifsud, who appeared to take a fright. They asked him to inspect the sack, in which they found eight plastic bags full of dried leaves, which later were found to be cannabis.
The defendant was later accompanied to his house where after briefly escaping from police custody; he was seen throwing a cardboard box from his roof to a piece of land adjacent to his house. The box was later found out to be containing another two plastic bags full of cannabis. The eight bags contained a total of 3.86 kilogrammes of cannabis
On the following day, the police searched the Nadur field in the presence of the defendant. They uncovered three large containers under a tree in which a total of 34 plastic bags full of cannabis were found weighing at 15.2796 kilogrammes.
In a statement, Mr Mifsud told the police that he had come across a matchbox containing 12 seeds in April 2003. He sowed them out of curiosity as he could not identify the kind of plant that would grow. After sometime, he realised that he had been growing cannabis.
Dr Lanfranco, who is assisted by Dr Nadine Sant also from the office of the Attorney General, declared that she had concluded presenting its evidence.
Defence counsel Joe Brincat is expected to start his defence today.