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Five people have been charged after a coordinated Drugs Squad operation led to the seizure of 7kg of cocaine and 7kg of cannabis from a number of properties.
36-year-old taxi driver Nikola Vujakovic, from Serbia, 37-year-old self-employed businessman Salvatore Rogazione from Sicily, 34-year-old Aleksandar Vujakovic from Croatia, cleaner Sara Lerinc, 22, from Serbia, residing in Zabbar and Goran Davkovski, a 54-year-old man from North Macedonia, appeared in the dock before magistrate Nadine Sant Lia on Tuesday, charged with drug trafficking and money laundering offences.
Aleksandar Vujakovic and Rogazione refused to reply to questions about their address. Their lawyers argued that he was exercising his right to silence and did not have to justify this.
Lawyer Charles Mercieca told the court that Davkovski would not be answering any of the court’s questions.
7kg of cocaine was seized in the operation (Photo:Malta Police)
All pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Police Inspector Mark Mercireca told the court that some months before the operation, the police had received information about a Serbian gang in Malta which might be involved in drug trafficking, weapons possession and false documents.
Nikola Vujakovic was identified first, with the police discovering that he lived in Zabbar with his girlfriend, Lerinc, but would turn up at several other residences throughout the day.
Over €14,000 were found inside the glove compartment of a car belonging to one of the accused (Photo:Malta Police)
He was observed to make use of several vehicles and a property in Marskala.
Initial surveillance confirmed that the defendants would use both the Zabbar and Marsaskala properties as well visit several commercial establishments in the latter town.
Cannabis seized in the operation (Photo:Malta Police)
On 5 October 2024, the police had started a round-the-clock surveillance operation targeting the group to confirm the information they had received.
Leric would live at Marsaskala, said the inspector.
A Volvo driven by Nikola Vujakovic and two other men, was observed leaving his Zabbar residence and driving to a nearby field in which a number of abandoned vehicles were dumped. He was observed taking a bag out of his Volvo and filling it with items that had been stashed in one of the abandoned vehicles, a Peugeot.
He was then seen to drive towards Bahar ic-Caghaq, and was followed by the police, but was lost in traffic soon after.
The Peugeot, which was registered to another man, was also placed under surveillance.
On October 6, Nikola Vujakovic was seen approaching the Peugeot on a motorbike with Lerinc riding pillion. He took something out of the Peugeot and put it in a bag. He drove to a house in Marsaskala and dropped off the bag outside.
A man, later identified as Rogazione, was then seen to pick up the bag. The contents of the bag were identified by the police to be a block of what appeared to be cocaine. Rogazione was arrested together with his girlfriend. Vujakovic and Lerinc were also arrested soon after.
A search of the residence recovered a single sachet of suspected cocaine together with a small amount of cannabis and a firearm that is currently being tested for functionality as well as a cash counting machine.
Photo: Police
Several mobile phones and digital weighing scales were discovered with cash, inside the car and over €14,000 were found inside the glove compartment. Vujakovic was carrying €3,600 in cash in his wallet at the time of his arrest. In the residence keys to several vehicles were also found.
Vujakovic told the police that he had only just recently bought one of the cars, in which a large amount of cannabis was discovered, but the police said that he had been seen repeatedly accessing it in the days before.
Davkovsky was arrested inside the Marsaskala property. He had tried to walk away from the property when the police arrived, said the inspector, who added that he had claimed to be the cleaner.
Blocks of cocaine in varying states of preparation were found inside the house, he said.
Approximately 7kg of cannabis and 7kg of cocaine were found in total.
In every residence that was searched, the police had also found documents which they suspected were forged and are now being analysed, he said.
The court imposed freezing orders over all of the assets belonging to the defendants, which the defence registered objections to.
Lawyer Franco Debono Alfred Abela and Rene Darmanin for the Vujakovics and Lerinc
Lawyer Charles Mercieca assisted Davkovski. Lawyer Julia Micallef Stafrace appeared for Rogazione as legal aid.
Prosecutor Maria Francesca Spiteri assisted police inspectors Mark Mercieca, Jonathan Cassar, Jonathan Pace and Oscar Baldacchino.
“}]] On Sunday, police surrounded a vehicle in Żabbar, where they retrieved seven kilos of cocaine. Other searches in residences in Żabbar and Marsaskala revealed more cocaine, six kilos of cannabis and a substantial amount of cash Read More