11 tonnes of cannabis resin seized at Malta Freeport
Malta Customs scanning four transit containers at Malta Freeport on 17 September 2018 found 11 tonnes of cannabis resin hidden in detergent and blow-torch consignments on their way from Syria to Libya. Valued at €28.5 million, it was the largest drug seizure ever made by the Maltese authorities.
Four containers travelling through Malta from Syria to Libya were flagged as
potential high-risk containers by the Customs Container Monitoring Unit after
risk analysis.[1]Three were declared as carrying crockery detergent and
the fourth as carrying blow-torches.[1]Scanned twice at Malta Freeport on
Monday 17 September 2018, they showed images that were not homogenous.[1][2]
Customs officers opened them and found bundles of a brown substance hidden
inside the detergent; a narcotics field test confirmed cannabis resin.[1]The four containers held 11 tonnes of resin with a street value of €28.5
million.[1][2]Malta Customs called it the largest drug seizure ever made by
the Maltese authorities.[2]A week later the European Anti-Fraud Office
published Malta Customs’ final figures on the bust.[3]
Photos and video
Bundles of the seized cannabis resin found in the Freeport containers (photo: Times of Malta)Photo details
A 45-year-old Moroccan man arrested at Malta International Airport with about 150 capsules of suspected cannabis resin in his stomach was arraigned before Magistrate Abigail Critien. He pleaded not guilty to importing cannabis resin not for personal use and association with drug trafficking and was remanded in custody.
Solomon Haile, 32, and Mohammed Eisa, 25, pleaded not guilty in Malta to cocaine trafficking and, for Haile, cannabis possession and selling cannabis without a licence, after a drug squad surveillance operation in St Julian’s. Their lawyers did not request bail, and no quantity or value was published for either drug.
After the May amendments took effect, the Authority for the Responsible Use of Cannabis opened a freephone line for complaints about cannabis smells from private homes. Complaints must be signed and say where the smell comes from; officers first advise, then enforce the €235 fine if the nuisance continues.
Customs at Malta International Airport found 40 kilograms of cannabis grass in the luggage of Richard Baxter, 40, a UK national who arrived from Dubai on 19 May 2025. He was arraigned the next day, pleaded not guilty to import and trafficking charges and was remanded in custody.
