The Customs Department on Saturday seized 144 kgs of cocaine from three other reefer containers at the Malta Freeport. 

The discovery was the fourth major achievement for the department after Sunday 7 April’s cocaine haul of 91.2kgs, Tuesday 9 April’s seizure of 24 kgs and Sunday 14 April’s  haul of another 91.25 kgs of cocaine,  

In the early hours of Saturday, the Customs Container Monitoring Unit selected several containers for scanning. Following preliminary scans, taken by the Customs Scanning Team, irregularities in three of the reefer containers were noticed, which, once again, pointed to narcotics hidden in the refidgerant compessor unit. A physical search confirmed the preliminary suspicions.

-          The first two containers, which were both transhipping Malta, from South America, en-route to the port of Durres, in Albania, each contained 20 packets of cocaine, weighing 48 kgs, with a  street value of 5.4 Million Euros.

-          In the third container the Customs Officials found 80 packets of cocaine, weighing 96 kgs and a street value of 10.8 Million Euros. This container was transhipping Malta, from South America, en-route to the port of Bar, in Montenegro.

The twelve-hour operation was the result of a concerted effort between the employees of the Customs Department, the Police and Malta Freeport. The Customs Department would like to thank, also, members of the Armed Forces of Malta for their assistance.

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.