Updated 6.25pm
Eight people are under arrest in connection with the audacious theft of 226kg of cannabis resin from a container stored in an army facility at the Safi barracks.
All eight are Maltese nationals and were arrested in four separate police operations carried out over a 12-hour period between Monday night and Tuesday afternoon, Police Commissioner Angelo Gafà said at a news conference.
Some of the suspects are known to the police, the commissioner said.
Arrests began at 1am on Tuesday morning when officers stormed an apartment in Żebbuġ. They continued in the morning with raids in Marsa, Żabbar, Qormi and Pietà, he said.
So far, police have recouped roughly 85kg of the stolen drugs, Gafà said.
The four police operations:
- At 1am, police raided a Żebbuġ apartment and arrested four men. They seized 36kg of cannabis resin from a nearby garage.
- At 7.45am, a 23-year-old man was arrested in Marsa and 34kg of cannabis resin seized from a Żabbar garage linked to him
- At 9.40am, a 34-year-old man was arrested in Qormi and 10kg of cannabis resin then seized from a field in San Ġwann.
- At 12.45pm, police stopped two cars in Qormi and Pietà and arrested two men aged 25 and 23. They then seized 5kg of cannabis resin from a Pietà residence, as well as cannabis grass and cocaine unrelated to the weekend theft.
The police commissioner declined to provide further details about the suspects or investigations.
The heist
The drugs were being held inside a sealed container at the Safi barracks at the request of the Court Services Agency and were part of a larger seizure of cannabis resin made at the Malta Freeport last June.
They were stolen overnight between Saturday and Sunday, with the theft only discovered following a patrol. Sources told Times of Malta that the thieves had cut through a fence to access the container.
Lawyer Jason Azzopardi claimed that thieves loaded sacks with the drugs and got away in a Skoda car from a back lane. Police did not comment on those claims.
The theft, revealed on Sunday, rocked the government and Armed Forces of Malta and caused a storm in parliament. AFM commander Clinton O'Neill was suspended, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri offered his resignation, and the Opposition demanded an urgent debate in a stormy sitting of the House.
On Tuesday afternoon, the cabinet of ministers issued a joint statement saying it had full faith in Camilleri and backed the prime minister's decision not to accept his resignation.
The theft is also the subject of an inquiry by Magistrate Antoine Agius Bonnici while the prime minister is set to announce the terms of reference of an inquiry by retired judge Geoffrey Valenzia about shortcomings which may have contributed to the heist.