A port worker, charged over his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to smuggle 146 kilos of cocaine out of the Malta Freeport, told police that he was roped into the affair by a chef he met at a Bulebel bar where he regularly dropped in for a snack.

That bar has since been sealed off by police along with another eatery and a garage in Fgura as well as some rooms with an adjoining field at Fort Benghajsa which are all linked to Kurt Scicluna, the 31-year old chef currently also charged in relation to the alleged conspiracy.

Roderick Camilleri, the 44-year old port worker from Birzebbugia, was arrested together with fellow worker Darren Dimech, 46 from Fgura, just as the pair were driving a truck out of the Freeport on November 12.

The truck driver and passenger were stopped by security officers who had been instructed to inspect every vehicle exiting the Freeport.

Two of those officers testified on Monday when proceedings continued against Camilleri and Dimech.

When asked about some sacks tucked away behind one of the seats inside the truck, Camilleri and Dimech had simply shrugged off the question saying there was “nothing.”

They also had no documentation to show in respect of the contents of those sacks and that triggered further suspicion.

The security officers informed their superiors who, in turn, alerted the police.

Proceedings also kicked off on Monday against Scicluna, the third man arrested in connection to the alleged drug trafficking conspiracy.

Lead investigator Mark Anthony Mercieca testified about how police had traced calls and WhatsApp messages between Scicluna and Camilleri with many taking place in the morning and afternoon of November 12.

In one of those calls, Camilleri allegedly told Scicluna that he had “managed to extract three sacks from the container.” He was to get further information about where he would meet Scicluna once outside the Freeport.

Following his arrest, Dimech told police that he had been roped in by Camilleri “for a sum of money.”

Camilleri later said that he had been promised €150,000 for the job.

It all started around June when Camilleri was approached by Scicluna at a bar in Bulebel where he used to grab a bite.

Scicluna allegedly proposed a deal.

Camilleri was to “extract something from the Freeport.”

The promised €150,000 appealed to him.

More recently, Scicluna informed him that the expected container had arrived “or almost.”

Then one day at the bar, Scicluna handed him a paper indicating the exact parking spot of the expected container, further directing Camilleri to film the process of opening the container.

That footage was discovered on Camilleri’s mobile phone, said Mercieca.

On November 19, Scicluna was arrested at the Bulebel eatery. He was in the kitchen when police turned up.

Various documents, cash, mobiles and Scicluna’s Yamaha motorcycle as well as CCTV footage were seized at the bar.

Other items were seized from a Fgura restaurant, a Zejtun farmhouse and other property at Fort Benghajsa where Scicluna lived.

The next day he was interrogated. He chose not to answer self-incriminating questions.

All items seized were exhibited in evidence, including the properties that were formally-not physically-presented by the prosecution.

The bar, restaurant and garage were sealed off by the police. The rooms and field at Benghajsa were “fenced off” and an aerial photograph with the property circled in red was exhibited in court.

Both cases, presided over by Magistrate Elaine Rizzo, continue.

AG lawyers Kevin Valletta and Maria Francesca Spiteri are prosecuting together with inspectors Mark A Mercieca, John Leigh Howard and Francesco Mizzi.

Lawyers Jason Azzopardi, Kris Busietta and Alessandro Farrugia are counsel to Camilleri.

Lawyers Franco Debono and George Anton Buttigieg are counsel to Dimech.

Lawyers Michael Sciriha and Roberto Spiteri are counsel to Scicluna.