The police investigation into a series of arson attack on cars and private property is at a “delicate” stage, police commissioner John Rizzo said yesterday.

Speaking during a media briefing, Mr Rizzo said a number of the attacks, such as the burning of cars belonging to the Jesuits and to legal representative of JRS, Dr Katherine Camilleri, were probably related to the issue of irregular immigration – and committed “by the same actors”.

Other arson attacks on private vehicles, however, were probably not related and perpetrated for insurance fraud or after the car was used in a hold-up, for example.

The police commissioner said two officers, one from the recently set-up anti-terrorism unit, were investigating the cases.

Mr Rizzo said that if it results that the arson attack on MaltaToday editor Saviour Balzan’s front door was related to what he had said or written as a journalist, then that would be “an act of terrorism”.

“Why should a journalist suffer for what he writes?” the police commissioner asked.

Mr Rizzo said that in the first four months of this year, the number of criminal offences reported had gone down by 400 compared to the same period last year.

He attributed this positive result to an increased police presence on the ground, beefing up the mobile squad’s resources and the introduction of a new shift system for police officers.

The new nine-hour-shift system has generated an extra 20 hours of duty from each police officer a year but at the same time, their number of days off work had gone up, said Mr Rizzo.

Greater collaboration between the local councils and the police since last November had contributed to a greater awareness on prevention.

Mr Rizzo said that through this programme, police officers from the specialised police squads are meeting local councils to make them aware of the different types of crime and how they can be prevented.

Each police officer is responsible for a number of localities, and he or she has to see that the crime rate in those localities does not increase. This work is done in conjunction with the district police officer responsible for those localities.

He said he hopes this programme will encourage local councils to organise crime awareness and prevention programmes in their respective towns and villages. “Crime is not fought only by the police; but by all the citizens of this country.”

For instance, in Republic Street, Valletta, a substantial number of CCTV cameras were installed following discussions with shop owners and the Valletta local council.

Despite these initiatives, however, the number of hold-ups went up in the first four months of this year. This form of crime has become the preferred method among criminals he said.

The police commissioner said the homicide squad, led by inspector Chris Pullicino, is reviewing all unsolved murders from at least 1970 onwards. Since the unit was set up in 2005, five “unsolved” murders have been closed.

With regard to the murders of Karin Grech, Raymond Caruana and Lino Cauchi, Mr Rizzo said there had been developments in the respective investigation but “one could not necessarily take the case to court”.

He said that “a lot of new evidence which was not existent before” had been collected in the Raymond Caruana case.

Mr Rizzo also revealed that in 1995, the police, led by AC Joe Cachia and Mr Rizzo himself, had conducted a four-month extensive review of the Karin Grech case with the help of officers from the British metropolitan police. In the same year, they also reviewed the Lino Cauchi case.

Mr Rizzo said the Maltese police have asked their Italian counterparts to join an investigation into the interception at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport last Saturday of 700 grammes of cocaine that were destined for Malta.

The drugs were intercepted after the 60-year old Colombian courier had a heart attack just before boarding the flight to Malta. He had originally left from Mexico City.

The man, carrying a Canadian passport, had fallen seriously ill when one of the 70 capsules of cocaine he had swallowed, burst in his stomach. The drugs were discovered when he was operated upon.