Four men carrying a total of €64,967 in undeclared cash were intercepted by Customs Malta at the MIA, the customs department said on Friday.

Two Maltese passengers en-route to Turkey and Australia respectively, were found to be carrying a total of €25,717 in undeclared cash. The man travelling to Turkey was found to be carrying €11,280 in his jacket whereas the other Maltese man travelling to Australia was found to be carrying €14,437 in undeclared cash. Both men were stopped for a random currency check during screening of passengers.

A Dutch man travelling to Amman was also stopped for a random currency check during screening. Customs Officials asked the passenger how much cash he was carrying to which he replied €5,000, but a thorough search led to the discovery of €28,700 in undeclared cash.

In a separate case, Customs Canine Gypsy sniffed out €10,550 in undeclared cash on a Sudanese passenger travelling to Egypt, via Istanbul.

All four passengers were offered an out-of-court settlement to which they agreed to and signed and were each administered a fine.

From the beginning of the year to date, so far, a total of €229,925 in undeclared cash were intercepted by Customs Malta.

The total of €229,925 was intercepted in 15 separate cases, 7 of which were sniffed out by Customs Canine officers. Charlie sniffed out €41,518 in undeclared cash in 3 separate cases, whereas Gypsy intercepted €37,515 in 2 different cases. Zekkin and Sophie on the other hand sniffed out €15,030 and €13,085 respectively in another 2 cases.