In the Magistrates’ Court today, a resident of Gibraltar has been disqualified from driving for 24 months and fined £200 after he pleaded guilty to driving a motor vehicle with a concentration of a controlled drug above the specified limit.

Francis Pecino, 42, of the Alameda Estate was fined a further £200 after pleading guilty to Possession of a Class B drug.

The court heard that, at around 0100 on the morning of 7 July 2023, officers were following a locally-registered car in the area of Glacis Road when they detected the smell of cannabis coming from the car in front of them. 

When Pecino’s vehicle was stopped, he appeared to be nervous and furtive and, when detained for a search, he immediately handed over a piece of cannabis resin inside a cigarette packet.  His roadside drug test then provided a positive result.

Pecino was then arrested on suspicion of Driving a Motor Vehicle while under the Influence of Drugs and further arrested on suspicion of Possession of the Class B Drug.

A blood test taken at New Mole House gave a result of 4.8ugl – the legal limit is 2ugl.