A joint operation by Belgian and Dutch authorities has halted a shipment of cannabis, cocaine and synthetic drugs on its way to Malta, the Council Chamber of Hasselt, Belgium, has confirmed.
The news came via a Dutch language website based in Belgium, Het Belang van Limburg, which quoted official sources saying that eight members of a Belgian-Dutch drug gang had been arrested.
It said that the arrests came after a joint effort by the Hasselt Federal Prosecutor's Office, the Public Prosecutor's Office in Limburg, the Dutch Public Prosecution Service, the Federal Judicial Police in Limburg and Dutch investigators.
The impressive number of arrests resulted in the dismantling of three amphetamine laboratories in Ham and Hamont-Achel and the seizure of 3,000 mature cannabis plants and 700 smaller plants at plantations in Heist-op-den-Berg, Wuustwezel and Hoogstraten - all in Belgium.
The same media report cited official sources as saying that the vehicles being used were equipped with special storage areas, filled with cannabis and cocaine intended to be smuggled to Malta.
The investigation into the organisation began in mid-2016, when the Belgium Federal Food Agency noticed abnormal orders of chemicals by a soap company in Lommel. It is believed that the chemicals were intended to be used in the production of synthetic drugs.
Last year, the police in Malta established a record for the quantity of cannabis seized in one operation when they discovered a massive 550kg hidden in two Italian-registered trucks, which led to the arrest of two Italian nationals and two Slovenian nationals.
And there has already been another impressive drug bust this year, when 30kg of cannabis was discovered earlier this month, after the police carried out a raid on a garage complex in Hamrun.
As the country reaches an agreement on the legalisation of medical products derived from cannabis, and possibly begins a discussion on the legalisation of the substance for recreational use, the police continue their fight to prevent the smuggling of massive amounts of drugs intended for Malta.