A 47-year-old Sicilian was brought to Malta, from Spain, on the strength of a European arrest warrant and charged with trafficking 54 kilos of cannabis.

Fabio Nastasi, 47, appeared before Magistrate Rachel Montebello and pleaded not guilty to conspiring to deal in the drugs, trafficking, and possession with the intent to sell on and before June 2023.

Police Inspector Mark Anthony Mercieca told the magistrate that in June 2023, the police arrested Sicilian Santo Arena in connection with the discovery of around 54kg of cannabis in St Paul’s Bay.

He was charged with trafficking and aggravated possession of approximately 54kg of cannabis in the apartment.

The drugs were estimated to have a street value of around €880,000.

During the court case, Arena mentioned that a certain Fabio Nastasi had paid him to keep the drugs at this house.

As the name of Nastasi was shared in the media, police were informed that he fled the island.

A European arrest warrant was issued and, 40 days ago, the police were informed that he was arrested in Spain.

He was brought to Malta on Monday night.

Lawyers Matthew Xuereb and José Herrara appeared for the accused.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.