Routine searches conducted, today, at the Malta Freeport Customs Scanning Facility, by the Malta Customs Officials, has once again resulted in a sizable narcotics seizure.
A statement issued by the customs said that refrigerated containers were flagged by the Customs Container Monitoring Unit, due to their high risk route. Preliminary scans, conducted by the Customs Scanning Unit, indicated clearly that two reefer containers were concealing unknown packets, once again, in the refrigerant compressor compartment.
The containers were subsequently inspected physically and found to contain:
Container number one – 38 packets of cocaine, weighing 45.6 kgs, with an approximate street value of 5.13 million euros;
Container number two – same as the previous with 38 packets of cocaine, weighing 45.6 kgs, with an approximate street value of 5.13 million euros.
A total of 76 packets, weighing 91.2 kg, were elevated during this operation, which account for a street value of a total of 10.26 million euros of cocaine.
All two reefer containers were carrying fruit and transited through Malta from South America en-route to an EU member state.
The case was handed over to the Police Anti Drug Squad, who are conducting the investigations. The duty magistrate is leading the inquiry assisted by a team of experts from the Police Forensics Unit.
The Customs Department would like to express its gratitude towards the Malta Police force, the Security Services of the Freeport Corporation, and the Logistics Department of the Freeport Terminals LTD for their cooperation.
