A stockpile of weapons discovered hidden at sea included some 40 rifles and machine guns believed to form part of a Malta-Italy-Libya smuggling operation which investigators believe involved the Ta’ Maksar gang.
Police sources said the “arsenal” is still being analysed for ballistics and forensic evidence, a process that could take a few more weeks.
Foreign experts are also expected to be roped in to assist in the analysis.
One law enforcement source said the stash of weapons has an estimated street value in the country of up to €80,000.
The weapons were discovered in the sea off Miġra l-Ferħa cliffs on Monday, after the police received a confidential tip on Sunday.
Investigators believe the weapons are linked to the Ta’ Maksar crime gang allegedly headed by brothers Robert and Adrian Agius.
The two, along with associate Jamie Vella, have been charged with complicity in the murders of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and lawyer Carmel Chircop.
A detonator found among the guns is believed to be the same type used in the Caruana Galizia car bomb.
Robert Agius lives in Baħrija, not too far from where the weapons were found. He and his brother were both arrested there as part of a police operation in February.
One police theory is that the weapons were dumped at sea before the brothers’ arrest because they feared they would soon be taken in by the police. The police suspect the weapons form part of a complex smuggling racket that the gang is believed to be involved in.
Confidential information obtained by the Investigative Reporting Project Italy (IRPI) and shared with Times of Malta as part of the Daphne Project indicates that the Agius brothers are connected to Italian, Libyan, Romanian and Albanian organised crime groups.
According to IRPI, in 2015, the Italian police received information about illegal arms trafficking involving a top member of the powerful Santapaola Mafia clan that runs many of Sicily’s ports. Using third parties as proxies, the mobster purchased deactivated weapons from a Slovak arms manufacturer.
The weapons, sources said, can easily be reactivated by removing a metal lock placed on the firing mechanism. Once reactivated, the criminals would then ship the rifles to Malta via courier services, with intelligence indicating they were destined to be moved on further south to Africa.
Reactivated weapons originating from the same producer have been linked to a number of terror attacks in Europe in recent years.
Italian investigators estimate that, in one year alone, this group shipped around 160 weapons across Europe.
The confidential information indicates that the Agius brothers have both been the subject of law enforcement investigations throughout Europe in connection with this gun running.