Police round up 57 illegal immigrants

Immigration police and members of the Criminal Investigation Department apprehended 15 illegal immigrants following a raid on a flat in Sliema on Monday night.

Police said the raid was carried out at a flat in Triq in-Nazzarenu, Sliema. Fourteen men and one woman were discovered.

Among those arrested were three men who had escaped some weeks ago from the Detention Centre in Hal Far.

The police also apprehended 42 other foreigners who were in Malta illegally during their intensive hunt for Walid Bazena, the 22-year-old Libyan who was wanted in connection with the murder of Rachel Muscat.

A police statement said that of the 42 foreigners who were apprehended from different parts of the island, 27 were Libyan nationals.

Of these 42, four had escaped from the detention centre in Hal Far. Of these, two were Bangladeshi who had escaped on July 17, while another two were Sudanese who had escaped on May 29 and another got away on July 17.