The family of a woman who went missing with her husband after he was convicted of importing explosives and trying to buy poison say they fear for her safety after the couple’s home was found in disarray.

Jomic Calleja Maatouk has been reported missing together with his partner, after having failed to sign a bail book for several days. He is now considered a wanted man. 

He was given a five-year prison sentence for importing explosives in July, with Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech describing him as a “lethal weapon” who was ready to open “the gates of hell upon whoever he deemed an inconvenience to be eliminated”. He later appealed his sentence.

Calleja Maatouk was caught trying to import deadly material through a darkweb marketplace, including lethal doses of radioactive material Polonium-210, highly toxic poison Ricin, killer drug Fentanyl and C-4 explosives.

Marzia Maatouk, 23, has been missing since last week. Photo: Family photo

Relatives of Marzia Maatouk spoke out in a desperate bid to find her as police search for the wanted man.

“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 said.

They said that when police and civil protection officers searched the house where the couple lived on Saturday there was nobody there.

“They said it looked as if someone had left the house in a rush,” one relative said. “And it is not typical of Marzia and her husband. They are usually very organised people.”

Calleja Maatouk, 36, went missing in the past days. He was out on bail but did not sign a bail book for a number of days and is now considered a wanted man by police.

They suspect he might have fled the country with his wife.

Marzia’s relatives spoke to Times of Malta on Wednesday about their fears as they continue to look for the 23-year-old woman, who has been missing since last week.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the family said Marzia has not been online on WhatsApp since last Wednesday and calls to her mobile phone are returning voicemail messages that appear to indicate it has been switched off for days.

Her brother was the first to sound the alarm last Thursday, when his sister did not show up to his shop to cover a shift and was not taking his calls.

Her grandmother also began to suspect something was wrong when she tried calling her many times and could not reach her. The distressed woman filed a police report last Friday.

Another relative went to the couple’s home on Saturday and spent 45 minutes knocking on the door. Nobody answered.

“That’s when we started to fear that there could have been an accident and they were both dead inside the house,” the relative told Times of Malta.

On Saturday evening, the police and civil protection officials were at the couple’s door, accompanied by Marizia’s relatives, to break in and search for the pair. 

“Nobody was inside the house and the place was in disarray,” one relative said. “And to this day we still don’t know where she is and we’re pleading with anyone who has any information to come forward to us or to the police.”

Marzia has not been online since Wednesday and is not answering family’s telephone calls. Photo: Family photo

Police and civil protection officials also found eight dogs and a bird inside the house ­– all of them pets that the couple owned. A relative of the family fed them in the police’s presence and by Monday evening all pets were relocated to other homes or animal shelters.

The family said they are very thankful to the police and civil protection officials on duty during those days.

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 that was heading to the Italian mainland, having left Malta as he faced criminal proceedings related to cannabis trafficking.

During his most recent case, a court heard evidence of how Calleja Maatouk had tried to buy lethal doses of radioactive material, highly toxic poison, a killer drug  and an explosive off a darkweb marketplace.

He told the seller that he needed “five doses” of the poisonous substances and would need more in the future.

And when sentencing him last July, Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech described Calleja Maatouk as “a lethal weapon” who was ready to open “the gates of hell upon whoever he deemed an inconvenience to be eliminated.”