Last year was a record breaker in terms of cocaine hauls, which saw the Customs Department seizing a total of 284.7 kgs of the drug.

This year, in just 14 weeks, the Customs Department has surpassed last years' results, by almost double the amount, with 515.2 kgs (more than half a ton) of cocaine seized.

In less than 48hrs after a 91.2kg cocaine haul, and just hours after an undeclared cash seizure at the Airport, Customs Officials have seized 24 kg of cocaine from another reefer container at the Malta Freeport.

Several containers were selected today for scanning by the Customs Container Monitoring Unit. Following preliminary scans, taken by the Customs scanning team, irregularities in one of the reefer containers were noticed, which pointed to possible narcotics hidden in the refidgerant compessor unit. A physical search confirmed the preliminary suspicions.

A total of 20 packets of cocaine, weighing 24 kg, were elevated with a total estimated street value of 2.7 million euros.

The container was transhipping Malta, from South America, en-route to Tirana, in Albania.

The case was handed over to the Police Anti Drug Squad, who are conducting the investigations. The duty Magistrate is leading the inquiry assisted by a team of experts from the Police Forensics Unit.

"Today's operation is another display of collaboration the Customs Department, the Police and the authorities at the Freeport. Such level of collaboration is a determining factor in establishing Malta's Freeport as one of the most secured ports in the region," The Customs Department said.