Monday’s massive drugs haul at the Freeport was worth approximately €28.5 million, the Customs Department said today.

Monday’s drug bust was the biggest ever for Malta. Over 11 tonnes of cannabis resin were found hidden inside four containers that had arrived from Syria and were destined for Libya.

Three of the containers were declared to be carrying pails of crockery detergent, while the other container was declared to contain blow-torches.

The containers were flagged as 'potential high-risk containers' following risk analysis performed by the Malta Customs Container Monitoring Unit. All four containers were scanned by the ZBV backscatter scanner, and subsequently by the Nuctech x-ray scanner. In both occasions, all pails of detergent produced inconsistency in the image.

Upon physical inspection, Customs officials uncovered bundles of brown substance hidden within the detergent. Following a narcotics field-test, conducted by Customs officials, there was a positive indication for cannabis resin.

Initial indications suggest that the quantity of cannabis resin detected amount to circa 10,000 kilograms (10 tonnes) to 11,000 kilograms (11 tonnes), with a street value of approximately €28.5 million, the department said on Tuesday.

Customs officials requested the assistance of the Police Anti-Drug Squad and the Malta Police Forensic Section who are now handling and investigating the case. The duty magistrate was informed of the case.

Although the investigations are still underway, the haul is definitely the largest of its kind in Malta, both in quantity and in value, the department said.