The police are still looking for Jomic Calleja Maatouk, who was convicted of importing explosives, almost a month since he was placed on Europol’s list of Europe’s most wanted fugitives, sources have confirmed.

The Maltese police are collaborating with their European counterparts in an attempt to find Calleja Maatouk and his wife Marzia. Malta has already issued European Arrest Warrants for the couple, while Jomic Calleja Maatouk was also placed on Europol’s list of Europe’s most wanted fugitives.

According to the latest intelligence, the couple is believed to have absconded from Malta, probably by sea, since no official sea and air departures list included their names.

“We are in constant contact with our colleagues around Europe because although we believe they are in Serbia, they might have moved to nearby countries,” police sources told Times of Malta. Serbia has an extradition agreement with Malta.

The police believe the Calleja Maatouks either used false passports to get out of the country or crossed to Sicily by sea and then drove through Italy northwards.

Jomic Calleja Maatouk, 36, was sentenced to five years in jail after he was convicted of importing explosives and trying to buy poison. He must also serve a prison sentence over drug offences. He was out on bail after he appealed his conviction but did not sign a bail book for a number of days.

In court, Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech had described him as a “lethal weapon” who was ready to open “the gates of hell upon whoever he deemed an inconvenience to be eliminated”. Calleja Maatouk had been caught trying to import deadly material that included lethal doses of radioactive material Polonium-210, highly toxic poison Ricin, killer drug Fentanyl and C-4 explosives.

The police believe the Calleja Maatouks either used false passports to get out of the country or crossed to Sicily by sea and then drove through Italy northwards

His wife, 23-year-old Marzia, was in July sentenced to 15 months in jail after she was convicted of cannabis possession with intent. The crime took place in August 2019 when she was just 19. Soon after her disappearance, Marzia’s family told Times of Malta they were fearing for her safety after the couple’s home was found in a mess.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the family said Marzia has not been online on WhatsApp, and calls to her mobile phone were returning voicemail messages that appeared to indicate it has been switched off for days. Her brother was the first to sound the alarm when his sister did not show up at his shop to cover a shift and was not taking his calls. “We are extremely worried she might have been forced to leave the country and that she might be in danger right now,” one tearful relative had told Times of Malta.

Jomic Calleja Maatouk has a long criminal record as well as a history of fleeing the law. In 2015 he was arrested aboard a train in Sicily heading to the Italian mainland, having left Malta as he faced criminal proceedings related to cannabis trafficking.