Raymond Borg, a known criminal with theft and drug trafficking convictions, was granted bail yesterday after being charged with a burglary in which some €40,000 worth of jewellery, cash and electronics were stolen from a house in St Paul’s Bay.

Mr Borg, 41, gave the thumbs-up sign behind his back to relatives sitting at the back of the courtroom when Magistrate Silvio Meli asked for his home address during the hearing. He seemed to know the magistrate’s request was likely to mean that he was being granted bail, which was confirmed against a personal guarantee of €4,000 and a condition to report daily to the Valletta police station.

Mr Borg was charged with burglary in a house in St Paul’s Bay on January 21 and of handling a stolen laptop computer which formed part of the haul. He denies the charges.

Prosecuting Inspector Joseph Mercieca said Mr Borg was a criminal known for drug trafficking and theft.

Among other things, Mr Borg had spent four years in a Sicilian prison for drug trafficking along with Fabio Psaila, who was recently on the run after being wanted by police in connection with a string of hold-ups.

The two had been arrested in 2002 as part of an operation which saw Maltese and Italian police cooperate to break a ring allegedly involving some 20 people, including major criminals like Leli Camilleri (Il-Bully), Mario Camilleri (L-Imnieħru), Charles Muscat (Il-Pips) and Alfred Bugeja (Il-Porporina).

Maltese police had intercepted telephone calls between Maltese regarding the whereabouts of the drugs and relayed the tip to the Italian police, who found the drugshidden in soil on the highway between Catania and Palermo close to a hotel.

When Mr Borg and Mr Psaila went to pick up the drugs they were arrested. They pleaded guilty and served their sentence but most of the cases initiated in Malta are still pending. More recently, Mr Borg was in court over other charges, which included a hit-and-run incident involving an elderly man.