Foreign Affairs Minister Chris Fearne stated on Wednesday that "a young Maltese boy" who was being held in Catania, Sicily under an Italian court order is on his way back to Malta following weeks of "intensive diplomatic interventions."

According to Times of Malta, this boy is 13 years old and was on a speedboat carrying three other Maltese men that got caught up in a cash bust worth some €700,000. This incident occurred in late July, earlier this summer, after the speedboat ran out of fuel just before arriving in Casuzze, Ragusa.

A student news journal from the University of Catania, LiveUniCT, had reported that upon failing to arrive to land, the Maltese men began dumping thousands of euros into the water. Reportedly, locals noticed as cash floated ashore, causing some additional difficulty for the Italian authorities to retrieve all the money disposed.

Minister Fearne thanked the Malta's Diplomatic Service, the Ministry for Social Policy and Children's Rights, the State Advocate, and the Maltese Court of Justice for their assistance in the minor's return to the country.

Government sources reportedly informed Times of Malta that the boy mentioned by Malta's Minister for Foreign Affairs is in fact the same youth who got caught up in this speedboat cash dumping. It added that the three adults with him were identified to be Sage Gauci, Owen Jones, and the minor's reported father, Jeffrey Cassar.

The boy is making his way back to the Maltese islands after remaining with social services in Catania. The three Maltese adults have since returned to Malta; the teenager stayed with social services even after the three men arrived back in Malta.

No indications were given that the 13-year-old had any say in what happened in late July or that he partook in any criminal wrongdoing. Reasons behind the court decisions to keep him with social services for the past three months were not provided.

All Maltese adults have reportedly washed their hands of any criminal involvement in this incident.