Daniel Muka was arrested on Tuesday by police investigating a double murder in Sliema last week.

Wearing denim shorts and yellow flip-flops, a handcuffed Muka was hauled out of a house in Floriana by armed police officers and bundled into a squad car. Investigators now have 48 hours to arraign him or release him without charge.

Police are also holding one other person for questioning in connection with the double murders of Christian Pandolfino and Ivor Maciejowski, who were found shot dead inside their Sliema townhouse last Tuesday. 

Muka is bundled into a police car following Tuesday's raid. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

Attempted murder and robbery charges

Muka is well-known to the police: he is currently facing attempted murder and armed robbery charges and was out on bail when police arrested him on Tuesday.

Those two incidents date back to late 2017.

In October of that year, he was arrested in connection with a jewellery store heist from Tigne’.

Thieves wearing wigs and sunglasses burst into the Diamonds International store at 10am on a Friday morning, smashed display cases and swept jewellery into sacks before making their getaway.

Smashed jewellery cases at Diamonds International following the heist. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Muka was arrested one week later at St George’s Bay, following a violent altercation with officers who recognised him.  

The 25-year-old Albanian national is alleged to have tried to kill the two police officers, aiming a gun at them and pulling the trigger as they approached.

The pistol did not fire and officers managed to subdue him using a taser.

One of those policemen, a sergeant, told a court that Muka had later told the officers he had a gun because he knew police were onto him and he “wanted to end this”.

Muka was charged with the attempted murder of the police officers in October 2017 and faced robbery charges connected to the Diamonds International heist some weeks later.

He was eventually granted bail, legal sources told Times of Malta.

Muka was arrested in a raid in Floriana on Tuesday. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

His Facebook profile - where Muka added an '(epic)' to his name - features photos of the suspect smiling while stroking an adult tiger or posing with a BMW coupé car. 

Muka is not the only member of his family to run into trouble with the law: his older brother Bengtash was also arrested and charged in connection with the Diamonds International robbery following a manhunt by police.

Two years later and while also out on bail, the older Muka brother was caught trying to scale a wall to enter Safi barracks from a restricted area at Malta International Airport. Muka was carrying an unlicensed weapon at the time.