A second man has been charged in court with human trafficking after migrants landed on Maltese shores undetected last week. 

The Egyptian national, 35-year-old Mohamed Ahmed Elgamal, was charged with human trafficking, breaking immigration laws, fishing without a license and driving a sea vessel with a motor without a license in front of Magistrate Leonard Caruana. 

When asked to confirm his profession, Elgamal’s lawyer Mario Mifsud interjected and instructed him not to answer. The man pleaded not guilty to all the charges. 

This comes after a Syrian man arraigned in court on Monday evening admitted to his part in the human trafficking operation and identified the accused in a closed sitting. 

Explaining the details of the arrest, police inspector Karl Roberts said that police responded to reports that migrants had made land near the Delimara power station at around 3.15am on September 14, seemingly undetected by the AFM. 

It is understood that there were two vessels full of people and after landing, some were picked up by unidentified vehicles, while others started walking towards Marsaxlokk. 

When the police arrived on the scene, they arrested 10 people who said they were from Bangladesh, as well as a Syrian man who was guiding them. 

The man admitted that he was involved in driving the migrants and testified behind closed doors that the accused had been the person who was steering the luzzu that landed in Delimara and had been the person guiding a “mothership” that had ferried the Bangladeshis just outside Maltese waters. 

The accused neither answered police questions nor did he sign a written statement, Roberts testified. 

Through further investigations, it transpired that the luzzu used during the alleged human trafficking was not a registered fishing vessel with authorities and should have been scuttled on land rather than at sea, he said. 

The luzzu’s owner was contacted and told that her vessel would be confiscated until investigations are concluded. 

The defence did not make a case for bail but indicated that it intended to do so after civilian witnesses testified. 

Elgamal was remanded into custody. 

Lawyer Roberta Spiteri also appeared for the defence.