Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1152248
4 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 7 AUGUST 2019 A man was charged in court yesterday, accused of caus- ing willful damage to public property and of being drunk in public. On Monday, 5 August, Aled Llyr Thomas, 26, from Wales and who was residing at the Marco Polo Hostel took to 1926 Beach Club in Qui-Si- Sana in Sliema. After a night of drinking, Thomas attempted to test his strength and started pulling a metal railing on the pub- lic beach. His actions caused the rivets to pop out of the structure, causing damage amounting to more than €250. Thomas pleaded guilty. Prosecuting inspector Ber- nardette Valletta confirmed that he had paid the Sliema local council for the damages he had caused immediately. Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech warned the Welshman that though he had complied with the au- thorities and paid for all the damages, this would be listed in his criminal conduct. Thomas apologised for his crime. "I will never do it again, not here or anywhere else," he told the court. He added that he would be flying back home tomorrow. Leontine Calleja was legal aid lawyer. Drunk tourist damages Sliema railing trying to 'test his strength' MARIO Abdilla would en- ter a shop with a fake €100 bank note and buy goods worth some €20 to end up with a profit. It was the 66-year-old's way of exchanging counter- feit money for the real deal and all this at the behest of drug lord Jordan Azzopardi. Details of this criminal operation emerged in court after Abdilla testified in the case against Azzopardi. Abdil- la is currently serving a three-year jail term for using false currency. The elderly man told the court how last March he met Azzopardi at a roundabout and accepted to change the fake €100 notes given to him by the lat- ter. Abdilla was promised €15 for every banknote he managed to exchange. Several shops were targeted and Abdil- la managed to cash in seven times, each time handing over the change to Azzo- pardi and his girlfriend. He told the court that in some cases the cashier would detect the money was false. Abdilla admitted that he never got a single cent for his efforts, because the trio were arrested later that same even- ing. Azzopardi was charged last March with masterminding a cocaine and her- oin trafficking ring. He is accused of us- ing violence against his underlings, who were forced to do his bidding. Another witness, Godwin Gatt, told the court that he used to sell drugs he obtained from Azzopardi to sustain his own addiction. Gatt owns a Gżira flat that was tar- geted in one of the police raids linked to Azzopardi's network. Gatt is currently in jail. He explained that an acid tank found in his apartment had been given to him by the accused as a fall-back position. The tank was never used before the raid that led to his arrest, Gatt testified. Garage transformed The various apartments and garages raided by the police, contained acid tanks so that drugs and other related objects could be destroyed in the even- tuality of a police raid. Apartments were heavily barricaded and the sale of drugs often occurred through small openings in the door. Another person to take the witness stand was Carmel Chricop, the owner of a Birkirkara garage. He explained that the garage had un- dergone a complete transformation af- ter he had rented it to a tenant who went by the name of Jordan Azzopardi. In court, Chircop pointed at Azzopardi and said he resembled his tenant most, although he had changed. The landlord explained how he had signed a one-year lease agreement at a daily rent of €25, which was usually paid in cash by a young woman who dropped by. Some six months into the agreement, Azzopardi had introduced his landlord to another man, who would be taking over. Chircop told the court that one day, a neighbour informed him that there was smoke coming out through a ventilator. Azzopardi had reassured him there was nothing wrong and that he had just burnt some papers. "I have a car worth some €30,000 in there," Azzopardi told Chircop. It was only after a call from the police that the landlord discovered what had actually been taking place inside his ga- rage. He described the presence of a massive metal structure to guard the entrance, a large quantity of shattered glass, a kitch- en and bathroom, all which were not there before. Chricop said since taking back the ga- rage he has had truckloads of stone slabs removed from inside the premises. A Range Rover and stolen iPhones Another witness was Azzopardi's friend, Jonathan Mangion, who testified about how the accused bought a Range Rover for €119,000. The witness recalled how he had ac- companied Azzopardi to a Burmar- rad car dealer and lent his signature as buyer. "They negotiated the price and I just signed… Since he's my friend, I did not say no," Mangion said. A few thousands were paid on the deal, with the rest to be paid in €5,000 monthly instalments, explained the wit- ness. Witness Josef D'Amato, who is serving prison time after admitting to drug-re- lated charges following raids on a Marsa farmhouse, was reluctant to testify. D'Amato replied evasively despite re- peated warnings by Magistrate Doreen Clarke that since his case was closed he had a duty to testify. "In this life, only death is obligatory," the man retorted, adding that he had got hooked on drugs at the age of 14 and had no recollection of all he did since then. "Whatever I did in my life it was all because of drugs." He answered with a blunt "no", when asked by the inspector whether he knew Jordan Azzopardi. He stuck to his reply when it was point- ed out that there were recorded call logs between him and the alleged drug lord. D'Amato's testimony was suspended. An Iranian student, who allegedly worked for Azzopardi was arrested in March and admitted to stealing €32,000 worth of iPhones. He was handed a four-year effective jail term but could not yet testify against Azzopardi since an appeal was still pending. However, Inspector Shawn Pawney testified that the man had refused to re- veal the name of his supplier, saying only that he had committed the thefts in ex- change for some €1,000 worth of heroin. However, whilst at the police lockup, the man had spotted Jordan Azzopardi who had just been taken there after his arrest. The man had called the police to his cell, saying that "he" [Azzopardi] was the man who probably had the stolen iP- hones and laptops, also mentioning two of the alleged drug lord's foot soldiers who had accompanied him to the vari- ous shops where the stolen cheque book had been put to use. The case continues. Inspectors Mark A. Mercieca, Justine Grech and Anthony Scerri prosecuted. Lawyer Anne Marie Cutajar from the AG's Office also prosecuted. Lawyers Franco Debono and Amadeus Cachia are counsel to both accused. Jordan Azzopardi used elderly man to cash in fake €100 banknotes Jordan Azzopardi convinced a 66-year-old man to change fake €100 notes