Members of the Police Drug Squad and the Customs Department have seized one kilogramme of cocaine and 1.5 kgs of heroin in two separate cases, Police Commissioner John Rizzo said yesterday.
Speaking at a media briefing that was originally intended to deal with illegal hunting and trapping, the police commissioner commended the Drug Squad for their efforts to curb drug-trafficking.
The first haul involved members of the Drug Squad, who stopped a car at the Luxol Grounds in Pembroke on Thursday at about 6pm and found drug capsules, amounting to one kilogramme of cocaine in total.
Two men are expected to be charged in connection with the case this morning: a 31-year-old Maltese from Marsaxlokk and a 28-year-old Tunisian, who lives in Naxxar.
In the second case involving the seizure of heroin, members of the Customs Depart-ment stopped a 23-year-old Libyan man at Malta International Airport.
He had arrived in Malta on a flight from Tunis on Thursday evening, when a Customs officer noticed something irregular and the man was not allowed to leave the airport.
An x-ray scan of his suitcase revealed a false bottom, which contained brown dust that was identified as heroin.
The heroin was mixed with coffee so that police dogs would not have been able to smell the drug.
Police superintendent Paul Debattista, who heads the Drug Squad, said the heroin was found to be of “very good quality” and investigations into the case are under way. It is expected that the Tunisian man will be charged in the coming days.
Superintendent Debattista said that the Drug Squad’s work was often the result of weeks, if not months, of investigation, but he stressed their “continuous commitment” and their collaboration with different sections of the Police Corps.
The seizure of cocaine in Pembroke, for example, was the result of a number of weeks of investigation, said the superintendent.
Commissioner Rizzo highlighted the importance of the public’s cooperation in fighting the drugs problem. He said the police also worked with schools and local councils to raise awareness of the horrible effects of drugs.
The police adopt a very proactive approach in this sense and “we want to try to save as many lives as possible and minimise cases of theft related to drug addiction,” said the police commissioner, adding that many more young people nowadays experimented with drugs, so it was important to identify them and help in their rehabilitation process.
He appealed to members of the public to cooperate with the police by using the crime stopper hotline 119, even if they chose to remain anonymous.
With regard to the issue of illegal hunting and trapping, following a media briefing on the same matter last week, Commissioner Rizzo maintained that abuse has “gone down” and that police enforcement was “very strong”.