Police Commissioner Angelo Gafà said eight Maltese men were arrested in four operations between about 1am and 12.45pm on Tuesday 25 February 2025 as investigators pursued cannabis resin stolen from a court container at the Armed Forces of Malta Safi barracks.[1][2] In all, officers recovered about 85 kilograms of the resin; Gafà said the police were still searching for the rest of the haul.[1][2]
The resin had been held in a sealed container for the Court Services Agency and formed part of a larger Freeport seizure from the previous June, Times of Malta reported.[1] It was taken overnight between Saturday and Sunday, and the theft was found on a patrol, the outlets said.[1][2]
Gafà set out the four recoveries.[1][2] At about 1am in Żebbuġ, police arrested four men in an apartment and found 36 kilograms of resin in a nearby garage, TVM said.[2] At about 7.45am in Marsa, a 23-year-old was arrested and 34 kilograms were found in a Żabbar garage linked to him.[1][2] At 9.40am in Qormi, a 34-year-old man from Ħamrun was arrested and 10 kilograms were found in a field in San Ġwann.[1][2] At about 12.45pm, police stopped two cars in Qormi and Pietà, arrested two men aged 25 and 23, and found another 5 kilograms of resin at a Pietà residence, along with cannabis grass and cocaine that Gafà said were not linked to the weekend theft.[1][2]
All eight suspects were Maltese, and some were known to the police, the commissioner said.[1][2] Times of Malta published a photograph from the press conference.[1]
