The Maksar brothers have “strongly denied” any link to the stockpile of weapons discovered hidden at sea, including some 40 rifles and machine guns believed to form part of a Malta-Italy-Libya smuggling operation.
The weapons were discovered in the sea off Miġra l-Ferħa cliffs between Sunday and Monday, after the police received a confidential tip.
Robert and Adrian Agius’s lawyer, Alfred Abela, told Times of Malta when contacted that his clients deny any of the allegations made in their regard. He said their only knowledge is limited to what is being reported in the media.
“Our clients strongly deny any allegations being made in their regard. Allow me to kindly remind you that they have been held in preventive custody since February 24, 2021 and have since the very beginning declared their innocence and they will continue to do so,” Abela said.
He insisted that the Agius brothers had not been questioned by the police over the matter and neither were they made aware of any investigation in this regard.
“You will appreciate that trials are conducted in a court of justice, not in the media, and baseless allegations spread around cause serious prejudice to my clients’ right to a fair hearing,” Abela added.
The Agius brothers are currently in preventive custody in jail after they were charged with complicity in the murders of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and lawyer Carmel Chircop. Their associate, Jamie Vella, is also facing the same charges and is in preventive custody too.
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.
According to investigators, the weapons and ammunition found on the seabed are believed to be somehow linked to the Ta’ Maksar gang.
They are being analysed for ballistics and forensic evidence, a process that could take weeks. However, sources said the fact that they were in waterproof bags means that traces and fingerprints could be found on the items.
Foreign experts are also expected to be roped in to assist in the analysis. The stash of weapons has an estimated street value of up to €80,000.
The sources said that 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.