They say a mafia boss hid in Gozo. But an ex-minister insists there's no proof
Louis Galea says authorities would have taken action 'had there been any indication he was in Malta'
Louis Galea, a former PN cabinet minister, said the Maltese government of the time was not aware Totò Riina was using Malta as a hideout in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
“There is no evidence that the Maltese government was ever aware of Totò Riina using any hideout in Malta or Gozo during the period you are referring to, nor that any Maltese authority had any indication of his presence here at the time,” Galea said.
During that time, Galea was the social policy minister from 1987 to 1992 and the home affairs minister from 1992 to 1996 in PN governments led by Eddie Fenech Adami.
Claims about Riina, a Sicilian mafia boss convicted of several murders, using Gozo as a hideout have long existed.
The house in Gozo the Italian media say Totò Riina used as a hideout. Photo: Google MapsThey recently resurfaced after Italian media reported that Salvatore ‘Totò’ Riina hid from Italian authorities in a sea-view villa in Qala that now belongs to Agriculture Minister Anton Refalo.
Refalo said he never owned that house, and that he leased the property almost a decade after the mafia boss was arrested in 1993. He insisted the story was “absolute hogwash and cheap sensationalism”.
In several statements, the Labour Party has pointed out that it was a PN government between 1987 and Riina’s arrest in 1993 that allowed the mafia boss to be in Maltese territory.
Last Saturday, the PL said the news reports confirmed that “during a Nationalist government, the Italian mafia and its leader were hidden in Gozo and were able to enter and leave our country without difficulty. Malta became their backyard”.
The party alleged that the Nationalist government at the time “had chosen not to investigate” reports that the Italian mafia was in Gozo.
Times of Malta contacted Galea for his reaction. He said the Maltese authorities were never aware that Riina was ever in Malta.
“Had there been any indication that a fugitive of Riina’s stature was in Malta, the authorities would have taken immediate action and worked closely with Italy to ensure his arrest and return,” he said.
He said Malta has always had a “strong and trusted partnership with Italy” in matters of security, intelligence and organised crime.
“Cooperation between Italian and Maltese authorities was constant and effective, and I am not aware of any instance in which Malta failed to act on information or concerns raised by its Italian counterparts, in accordance with our constitution, our laws and our treaty obligations.”
He said that no Maltese identity card or official document was ever issued under the name of Totò Riina.
Galea reiterates 1993 parliamentary statement
Riina was known to be a frequent visitor to Gozo, often spotted at St Francis Square in Victoria.
Back in April 1993, Galea gave similar answers in parliament over reports of Riina being in Gozo.
PL MPs Salvu Sant and Charles Mangion had both asked the then home affairs minister about reports that Riina had bought property in Gozo and had met Maltese people.
Galea told parliament that the police had no information on the matter, a Times of Malta report from the time says.
Riina was known to be a frequent visitor to Gozo, often spotted at St Francis Square in Victoria
Seventy-eight-year-old Louis Galea was first elected to parliament in 1976 and was the PN’s secretary general between 1977 and 1987.
He was appointed a minister in 1987 when the PN returned to government after 16 years in opposition. He was appointed home affairs and social development minister in February 1992.
Galea remained an MP, and served as a minister until 2008, when he was made parliamentary speaker. In 2010, he was appointed as a member of the European Court of Auditors.
Italian and Sicilian mobsters hiding in Malta
There is a history of Italian and Sicilian mobsters hiding in Malta. Riina’s son-in-law, Antonio Ciavarello, was arrested in Mosta in 2024.
Sebastiano Brunno, the head of the Nardo clan of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, was arrested to great acclaim in 2014 after five years on the run.
Brunno had been living under a false identity, going by the fanciful name of Natale La Modica, even producing a fake Italian ID card when approached by police moments before his arrest as he was on his way to lunch in a Buġibba restaurant.
Earlier that same year, Aldo Gionta, a member of the Neapolitan Camorra, was caught by Italian police in Pozzallo as he attempted to board a ferry to Malta.
And Simone Gaetano was making the opposite ferry journey from Malta to Pozzallo in September 2019, only to find Sicilian police waiting patiently for him as he disembarked. He was arrested in connection with charges of association with the mafia.