Robert Abela on Sunday explained his decision to refuse Byron Camilleri's resignation following the shock theft of drugs from an army base, saying he saw no reason for the home affairs minister to shoulder responsibility for what had taken place.

Some 200kg of illegal drugs were stolen from a container at an army base in Safi on Saturday night. The drugs, seized last year, were being held there following a request by the courts pending destruction.

“I saw Byron Camilleri's offer to resign, and I spoke to him several times this morning. I will not be accepting his offer to resign” Abela told Times of Malta.

“I don’t see any reason why Byron Camilleri should shoulder any responsibility over the incident”.

The prime minister said Camilleri was not involved in the drug storage arrangements or the decision not to destroy the illicit drugs. 

“Byron is known for his integrity, professionalism and for how seriously he takes his job” he added.

Abela said he would be appointing an administrative inquiry and set the terms of reference to establish whether there were administrative shortcomings that led to the theft, and if there were: who should take responsibility.

The prime minister said that he agreed with Cammilleri’s decision to suspend army commander Brigadier Clinton J O’Neill following the theft. 

“I am not saying he has any involvement in this case, in fact the information I have excludes this completely. But still, the incident took place on AFM premises and the magisterial inquiry evidence (the drugs) were under AFM custody,” he said. 

"It makes sense, therefore to suspend the brigadier till the facts are clear."  

Abela had words of praise for Camilleri’s five years as home affairs minister, saying he had curtailed irregular immigration, improved discipline within the police and seen an increase in public trust in the disciplined forces. 

When asked if he was worried about the state of the AFM following the case,  Abela said that the AFM has secured “great successes” in its work against irregular immigration. 

He would not comment on administrative deficiencies in this case because of the pending inquiry.

Contacted again after Abela’s comments, Camilleri would not say whether he would be going ahead with the resignation. He said he would not comment further and looked forward to meeting Abela to discuss the matter.

PN: Camilleri should have been dismissed even before the drugs theft

The Nationalist Party in a statement said Byron Camilleri should have been dismissed multiple times before Saturday's drugs theft from Safi barracks.

What happened on Saturday was only the latest of a series of failures under his leadership, it said.

The party called on Abela to provide a detailed explanation in parliament about the theft, its links to criminal cases, and the market value of the stolen drugs.

It expressed solidarity with AFM soldiers who, it said, were being painted in a bad light following this incident.

Drugs kept at AFM base following court agency's request

Earlier on Sunday morning Camilleri that the theft happened at Safi barracks where a container with illegal drugs seized last year was being kept.

He explained that several weeks ago, the permanent secretary informed him of a request from the Court Agency to relocate seized drugs from the Freeport due to potential industrial action. The drugs were seized in June 2024 and were awaiting destruction.

The ministry’s permanent secretary was to coordinate with Brig. O’Neill regarding secure storage.

The minister said that he received no further updates till Sunday morning, when the police commissioner informed him of the theft.

Camilleri immediately sought an explanation from O'Neill, who reported that the container was in an area secured with CCTV and regular patrols.

Criminals within our institutions have to be identified - Momentum

The Momentum political party asked in a statement whether there were insiders in the army betraying the Maltese people. 

"If 200 kilos of illegal drugs were stolen from under the army's nose and nobody notices, we have a big security problem. Are there people in the army colluding with drug mafias in Malta?" the party asked.

"The situation is very serious. Yet, Robert Abela, yet again following the revelation of torture by Prison Chief Alex Dalli, refuses to fire Minister Byron Camilleri.

"This charade cannot continue. Any criminals within our institutions have to be identified. In the meantime, political responsibility for such state shortcomings must be immediately taken," the party said.