A 20-year-old man from Sta Venera was charged with having cocaine in his possession which was found in circumstances denoting it was not for his personal use was granted bail. He pleaded not guilty.

The prosecution, led by Police Inspector Gabriel Micallef, explained to the court that the accused – Colin Ciangura – was caught with eight packets of cocaine in a Paceville establishment on 5 September.

As a result, Mr Ciangura was also charged with committing a crime within 100 metres from a school.

Lawyer Franco Debono requested his client is granted bail but the inspector opposed the lawyer’s suggestion.

Inspector Micallef explained that Mr Ciangura, who lives alone, owns a Mercedes Benz but is unemployed. When Dr Debono requested his client should be granted bail since there should not be any fear of his client tampering with evidence as there were no witnesses to approach, the inspector intervened and said that the evidence had already been tampered with.

The inspector further explained that someone got to Mr Ciangura’s home before the police did and forced open the door, implying that this someone destroyed potential evidence which could have further incriminated the accused. The police are understood to only found some empty ‘bags’ associated with drug trafficking at the home of the accused.

But Dr Debono argued that whatever the case, his client was not charged with drug trafficking but aggravated possession.

Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit bailed the accused out against a set of conditions, including that he cannot leave his home before 7am and has to be in by 5pm. daily. He was released against a personal guarantee of €10,000. The court also ordered the freezing of the assets of the accused.