Man cleared of smuggling cigarettes
A suspected drug smuggler, whose panicked driving manouevre caused his 500,000cigarette-loaded cabin cruiser to topple onto a police car, has been cleared of illegal smuggling due to insufficient evidence.
Clayton Azzopardi was arrested in September 2016 after the police received a tip-off about a suspected drug consignment that was due to be smuggled into Malta on his boat.
The police watched as he docked in a bay in the Marsascala area at around 8pm and transported his vessel onto a trailer that was attached to a Toyota Hilux. When the officers zeroed in, Azzopardi appeared to panic, causing the cabin cruiser to topple over and land on the bonnet of the police car, leaving it extensively damaged.
The cabin cruiser was towed away to the police compound and searched in Azzopardi’s presence. Tucked away inside the cabin, the police found several boxes of Richman Royal and Rocco cigarettes, totalling over 500,000 and having a total value of over €14,500.
The merchandise was subject to more than €85,000 in customs duty, almost €8,400 in import duty and around €19,400 in VAT.
Azzopardi insisted to the police that no drugs were involved and claimed he had acquired the cigarettes from a ship sailing in Maltese territorial waters.
He was subsequently charged with importation and possession of the cigarettes, failing to pay the relative taxes and duties, committing these offences while under probation as well as relapsing.
He pleaded not guilty.
In her judgment, Magistrate Ann Marie Thake said the prosecution’s evidence proved beyond reasonable doubt that the merchandise consisted of cigarettes, which had indeed been imported and were found in the accused’s possession.
However, the prosecution had failed to prove that duty and taxes on those goods had not been paid. Although they had summoned 13 witnesses, each variously involved in the case, none had shed light upon that fact.
The court could not do otherwise than acquit the accused of the charges concerning the importation and possession of the allegedly contraband cigarettes.
Azzopardi was only found guilty of causing involuntary damage to the police vehicle and was conditionally discharged for six months.
As for the charge of committing the offences while under probation, no copy of that probation judgment was produced in the records of this case nor anything to prove whether it had been appealed.
The charge of recidivism was not applicable once the accused was being found guilty of an involuntary offence, observed the magistrate.
Lawyers Arthur Azzopardi and Jacob Magri were defence counsel.