The defence had argued that the reports were drawn up carelessly, but the magistrate said this was far from the truth.

The drugs were found during an AFM roadblock in Cospicua, when a car driven by Aaron Gatt was stopped.

Carlos Briffa, who was a passenger, opened the door and threw a bag onto the ground, according to the testimony of an AFM soldier who was at the roadblock, while another soldier also confirmed that he had seen the car door open and close. The bag was retrieved and passed on to an officer, who in turn sealed it and passed it on to the police. It was subsequently found to contain 24g of cannabis.

Magistrate Lawrence Quintano found Mr Briffa, who was 18 at the time of the crime, guilty of possession of cannabis in 2000. He said that Mr Briffa must have known what the bag contained as otherwise he would not have thrown it out when he saw the roadblock ahead.

“Had he been holding a bag of crisps, he would not have been worried about it being found in the car and would not have thrown it out when … he was in a queue of cars stopped by the AFM,” the magistrate said drily.

The defence also argued that Mr Briffa could not be found guilty as Mr Gatt had already been found guilty of possession, but the magistrate made it clear that more than one person could be guilty as drugs changed hands often.

Mr Briffa was fined €468. The prosecution was led by inspector Norbert Ciappara.

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