Suspected drug dealer found with €26,000 cash in car

A man has forfeited the freedom he had been granted under six previous bail decrees after he was arrested on Wednesday and found in possession of drugs and some €26,000 in cash. 

Terence Cini, a 37-year-old Qormi resident, landed back under police surveillance following confidential information about his suspected involvement in a drug transaction that was planned for Wednesday morning. 

So officers from the Drug Squad kept close watch at Cini’s residence and followed the suspect and his brother as they drove from Qormi to Mellieħa where the suspected transaction appears to have taken place. 

The duo were blocked on their way back at the St Paul’s Bay bypass and a search of Cini’s vehicle yielded some €26,000 in cash.

A white substance, suspected of being cocaine, was also found at the Qormi residence. 

Cini was charged with aggravated possession of cocaine under circumstances indicating that the drug was not exclusively for his personal use, transfer of property derived through criminal activity, breach of six bail decrees as well as relapsing.

He was also charged with money laundering. 

He pleaded not guilty.

When objecting to bail, prosecuting Inspector Mark Anthony Mercieca...