Hamrun Drug Bust: Men Remanded After Reversing Into Police Car With €4k of Heroin & Coke
# Drug-Squad Bumper-Car: Two Men Remanded After Reversing Into Police, Found With Heroin and Cocaine
**A routine patrol in Ħamrun turned into a scene worthy of a local telenovela on Tuesday night when two men allegedly reversed their hatchback straight into an unmarked Drug Squad vehicle—then stared down officers who quickly discovered heroin and cocaine inside the car. The pair, a 34-year-old Birkirkara resident and a 29-year-old from Żabbar, were arraigned less than 24 hours later and remanded in custody after pleading not guilty to aggravated drug possession and traffic offences.**
Magistrate Gabriella Vella heard how the collision happened at 22:15 on Triq il-Kbira, Ħamrun’s main artery that doubles as a nightlife strip for bargain-hunters and bar-crawlers alike. Investigators told the court that the unmarked Kia Sportage—fitted with the dark-tinted windows locals have learned to recognise as “the po-po special”—was stationary when a silver Toyota Vitz lurched backwards at speed, crumpling the police bumper and triggering the officer’s dash-cam. Instead of exchanging insurance details, the driver allegedly panicked and tried to pull away, stalling twice in full view of two plain-clothes officers who recognised the passenger from previous trafficking probes.
A quick search revealed 35 sachets of what police believe is heroin (total weight 42 g) and 28 wraps of suspected cocaine (19 g) stashed beneath the hand-brake lever—classic “kantuniera” packaging, the cheap €20 street deals that have flooded Malta since pandemic border closures squeezed the market. A digital scale, €560 in mixed notes and two mobiles that kept buzzing with “pin” codes completed the tableau. Prosecuting inspector Mark Anthony Mercieca told the court the haul had a street value of roughly €4,000, “small fry by international standards, but enough to keep 200 weekend users happy”.
Defence lawyer Franco Debono argued the drugs could have been planted, claiming his clients “feared for their safety” when surrounded by plain-clothes officers in an unmarked car. But Magistrate Vella dismissed the bail request, noting the men’s lengthy criminal sheets—seven prior convictions between them, mostly for petty theft and cannabis, but enough to persuade the court they might re-offend or abscond. Gasps from the public gallery came from a cluster of teenage girls wearing oversized hoodies branded with local rapper “Brikkuni”, a reminder that Malta’s narco-culture is increasingly intertwined with its home-grown music scene.
Outside the law courts in Valletta, pensioner Carmela Pace, 72, who had queued since 07:00 for a pending inheritance case, shrugged at the news. “We see this every week now. When I was a girl, the worst crime in Ħamrun was someone stealing a rabbit. Today it’s powders and pills.” Her sentiment echoes national statistics: drug-related arraignments have risen 38 % since 2019, with cocaine overtaking cannabis as the most-seized substance for the first time last year, according to the National Drug Observatory. NGOs blame easy ferry links to Sicily and the island’s booming iGaming salaries—disposable income that has pushed the price of a gram of coke to €80, cheaper than a Friday-night sushi platter in Sliema.
Yet the real cost is being paid further down the chain. In nearby Marsa, outreach worker Claire Borg hands out clean needles twice a week. “We’re seeing 14-year-olds sniffing glue mixed with crushed benzodiazepines because they can’t afford coke. Every flashy arrest makes headlines, but the demand side is ignored.” Her organisation, Caritas Malta, has a six-month waiting list for residential rehab, despite government pledges to double beds at the Mtahleb facility.
Back in Ħamrun, mayor Christian Micallef is lobbying to reopen the police sub-station closed in 2012. “We need feet on the street, not just dash-cams,” he told *Hot Malta*, standing metres from the crash site where fresh tyre marks still scar the asphalt. Shopkeepers complain that foot traffic drops 20 % whenever word spreads of a raid. “People drive to the supermarket instead of walking. It kills community,” said florist Rita Sammut, who has run her stall since 1987.
For now, the two accused will spend the next month in Corradino as prosecutors await forensic tests on the sachets. If convicted of aggravated possession with intent to traffic, they face 4–12 years behind bars and fines up to €100,000—enough to buy a modest Valletta maisonette, or 1,250 grams of the cocaine that got them there. As the court adjourned, one officer joked that the Drug Squad car will need a new bumper. “At least this time the damage is only metal,” he said. “Next time it could be another life.”
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### Conclusion
Tuesday’s bumper-car blunder may read like dark comedy, but it spotlights a gritty reality: Malta’s role as a Mediterranean waypoint for narcotics is no longer a headline surprise—it’s a neighbourhood nuisance. Until demand dwindles and treatment waits shrink, every crumpled police fender is a reminder that the cheapest high still costs someone, somewhere, far more than €80 a gram.
