An Armed Forces of Malta soldier has been dismissed and another has been demoted following the conclusion of an inquiry into the drug heist from an army compound in Safi last month.
More than 100 kilogrammes of cannabis resin had been stolen in the heist, with six people later caught and taken to court. Minister Byron Camilleri offered to resign but Prime Minister Robert Abela refused it.
An inquiry after the incident found that one soldier tasked with monitoring security cameras was watching a film at the time of the robbery while a second one had been asleep.
"The theft happened because the soldier who was on duty on the cameras monitor did not do his job, and instead of doing constant monitoring as he should have been doing he watched a two-hour film on his tablet with earphones, spent another fifteen minutes on the phone with his girlfriend, and even cooked and ate in the kitchenette - while not carrying out a single patrol to check the container between 11:25pm and 2:50am," the inquiry said.
"Had he done his job, he would have realised that the theft had happened or that it was in process of happening," the inquiry continued.
"This is a serious case not just because a large quantity of drugs was stolen but because there was a breach at a place like a soldiers barracks which is meant to be secure," the inquiry noted.
During internal procedures, 55 charges were issued against six personnel with different ranks, all of whom were found guilty. But only one soldier was dismissed and another was demoted.
In total, the six personnel faced penalties amounting to 134 working days of forfeited pay, formal reprimands and official warnings.
The spokesperson said that official postings were also withdrawn, "leading to loss of allowances and possible hindrance to future promotions."
Initially, the police had said that 226 kilogrammes of cannabis resin had been stolen. But during court proceedings it was revealed that the actual amount was 132kg.
Court proceedings also showed that the thieves were at the compund for more than two hours.
The inquiry, led by Judge Emeritus Geoffrey Valenzia, also established that there had been multiple security failures that contributed to the heist.
Army Commander Brigadier Clinton O'Neill had been suspended hours after the heist, but was reinstated after the publication of the inquiry report.
Five men and a woman were charged with the heist.
Magistrate Elaine Rizzo ruled that 30-year-old Sean Attard from Żebbuġ, 33-year-old Yousef Essesi from St Paul's Bay, 23-year-old Carlos Pace and 19-year-old Cleaven Pace, both from Marsa, 23-year-old Liam Stewart from Tal-Pietà and 21-year-old Christa Gauci from Sannat, Gozo are placed under bill of indictment.