Malta police said they broke up an organised group importing and trafficking drugs across Europe after surrounding a block of apartments on Triq Alfred Craig in Pietà on Saturday morning, 8 March 2025.[1][2] Three men and a woman, all Romanian nationals, were arrested in the building while officers seized about 10 kilograms of cannabis with an estimated street value of about €150,000.[1][2] A fifth Romanian man was arrested at a hotel in Gżira.[1][2]
The police described the action as the result of weeks of investigation and intelligence-led policing.[2] In court on 9 March, TVM reported, inspectors said the group had used Petronela Chiriac’s Pietà apartment and car, that Claudiu Dangeanu and Ion Palade had arrived recently, and that Stelica State had crossed from Sicily by sea with his car in the preceding days.[1] After a warrant search, officers found four large black bags in a bedroom and 73 smaller bags of cannabis, TVM said.[1]
Stelica State, Ion Palade, Claudiu Dangeanu and Petronela Chiriac were arraigned before magistrate Marsanne Farrugia on 9 March, pleaded not guilty and were remanded in custody, TVM reported.[1] The Independent said the men were aged 36, 40 and 44 and the woman 33.[2]
TVM published a photograph of seized cannabis with its report.[1]
