Drug trafficking suspect Lilu King has been arrested and is being held at police headquarters over a potential breach of bail conditions and an altercation with police officers.

Sources close to the police said Lilu King, whose full name is Mohamed Ali Ahmed Elmushraty, is being questioned over an argument he had with police officers during a boxing match on Friday night.

The altercation Elmushraty was involved in was recorded on the officers' bodycam and footage is also doing the rounds on social media.  

Those present for the event appeared to be more enthralled by Elmushraty’s “fight” with police than the actual boxing match, according to the footage.

A spokesperson for the police told Times of Malta on Saturday that officers were called in to help eject a “rowdy” individual at the match. The spokesperson was unable to confirm whether Elmushraty was the person in question.

On Sunday, sources said Elmushraty was arrested on suspicion that he breached one of his bail conditions in a case where he is pleading not guilty to involvement in an organised group linked to drug trafficking and money laundering.

Elmushraty's bail conditions include a curfew between 9pm and 7am. A court, however, had granted him a one-off extension to the curfew, allowing him to stay out until 2.30am between Friday night and Saturday morning. The Attorney General had objected to the extension.

Sources said Lilu King was being questioned over the altercation with the police, including disobeying their orders.  

The boxing event drew the crowds on Friday night. Prime Minister Robert Abela was also filmed at the event, but he and Elmushraty do not appear to have crossed paths.

Culture Minister Owen Bonnici, on Saturday took to Facebook to claim he did not know that a man he was pictured with was Lilu King.

“After we took the photo, he told me, in Maltese but with a foreign accent, that he is known as Lilu King and that he is facing various proceedings in court. I am clarifying the facts that led to this photo,” Bonnici said.