Customs Officials seized €52,481 in undeclared cash from four passengers, two travelling to Sicily and two to Istanbul.

In a statement, customs said its officials stopped two passengers boarding the ferry to Sicily.

One was stopped after suspicion was raised by the canine officer.

When asked how much cash he was carrying, one of the passengers replied he had between €5,000-€7,000. But a search yielded €11,760.

The second passenger heading to Sicily, a Syrian, was stopped by officials for a currency control check. When asked how much cash he was carrying, the passenger said he had less than €10,000. But he actually had €10,990. 

Two other passengers travelling to Istanbul were stopped at the airport’s departures lounge after routine screening checks. Asked how much money he was carrying, a Ghanaian passenger said he had around €14,000. The passenger was escorted for a thorough search and was found to be carrying €19,091. 

Suspicion in a Burmese passenger was raised by canine officer Gypsy. When asked how much money he was carrying, the passenger said around $11,000 but a thorough search led to the discovery of $12,475 and €270 (a total of €10,910). 

All four passengers opted for out-of-court settlement and were administered a fine. 

Contraband cigarettes seized from shop, private residence 

Customs officials also seized 30,825 contraband cigarettes from a shop in Msida and a private residence and two garages in Żejtun. 

The cigarettes found in Żejtun, Business Royals Red, were all found without an excise stamp affixed on them. Customs Officials seized 13,800 contraband cigarettes from a private garage in Żejtun. 

The cigarettes seized from the Msida shop were fake branded L&M Blue and Gala American Blend. The shop owner stated that the witheld items were bought from a Maltese man who distributed them directly to his shop but he had no invoices to show.

Cannabis, magic mushrooms

Customs also said that its officials at the UPS Bond seized two parcels addressed to residences in Naxxar and Mosta and indicated by canine officer Stan. They were found to contain a total 2.65 kilograms of cannabis.

In a separate case, a package addressed to a residence in St Julian’s was thoroughly searched and was found to contain 15 white strips containing groups of suspected cannabis seeds, two small plastic bags containing other suspected cannabis seeds and two small plastic bags containing magic mushrooms. 

The cannabis packs hidden in a postcard. Photo: Customs Department

At the Air Malta cargo shed, canine officer Żekkin indicated an envelope in a sack containing various letters and documents addressed to a residence in Grenoble, France. When opened, it was found to contain a postcard with two small plastic bags containing cannabis. 

The police Drug Squad were informed about the finds and the packages and envelope were given to them for further investigation.