Three arrested over smuggling of contraband cigarettes
Smuggling of contraband cigarettes valued at €1 million 'an inside job' - customs official, Freeport official and stevedore arraigned.
16 February 2014, 12:00am
Miriam Dalli
Miriam Dalli
1 min read
File photo
Police have arraigned three Freeport employees in connection with the smuggling of contraband cigarettes.
The "inside job" was carried out by one customs officer, a Freeport official and a stevedore.
Rokku Agius, 53 of Qormi, Michael Sciberras 39 of Valletta and Amabile Grech, 42 of Zejtun, pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against them. The three were remanded in custody after the court turned down requests for bail.
Described by MaltaToday sources as "yet another racket", the three workers emptied a container that was being held by the customs.
The arraignment of the three men comes as investigation by the police and customs officer over smuggling of goods intensified.
Meanwhile, in a press conference called this evening by Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia and Economy Minister Chris Cardona, the two said the value of the smuggled goods amounted to €1 million. Not excluding that similar cases occurred in the past, Mallia said the container was brought to Malta in the end of Janaury for transshipment, released and then brought back empty.
Cardona also told journalists that "two other scandals" will be revealed in the coming days.
Taking to Twitter, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said that "smuggling, like tax evasion, is theft and this government is not going to tolerate it".
Miriam Dalli joined MaltaToday.com.mt in 2010 becoming assistant editor f...
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prosit lil min qed igib l ahbar li 1 minnom hu docker !!! docker huwa haddiem tax- xatt mentri min inqabad huwa burdnar . Hemm differenza enormi !! plz note who's in charge
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prosit lil min qed igib l ahbar li 1 minnom hu docker !!! docker huwa haddiem tax- xatt mentri min inqabad huwa burdnar . Hemm differenza enormi !! plz note who's in charge
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@ Toni Borg. Don't show your true colours. PL was in Government in March and not January. Check before you write. You pathetic man.
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Toni Borg, your weak sting has lost any venom it had with the latest SmartASS meters scandal! Do you know how many other Tobacco & Spirits containers were "imported" in this way. We know that there were plenty more cases during those infamous 25 years but only a very few (only those that involved foreign counterfeits were caught) or better still brought to justice. Everyone connected is still running around! And whom would you believe to be the mastermind behind bribing these officials? Have they been caught yet? GonziPNers, and other related blue bloods, please do us all a favour and especially yourselves by simply piping down and go hide your faces somewhere where the sun does not shine. WE ARE SICK AND TRIED OF YOUR FLIMSY EXCUSES!!!
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One thing is very clear. This country is riddled with corruption. Very depressing to find out about these scandals which in some instances seem to have been going on for years as the perpetrators thought they would never get caught. I must confess, I have never voted Labour in my life but I must take my hat off to this government for tackling this problem full on.
If I had been a minister in charge of a department riddled with corruption I would stand up red faced on Television, to admit that I was asleep at the wheel!!
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@maltesecross
It could well be that a lot of people took the labours slogan 'Taghna Lkoll' and started practicing it to the letter thinking that they were above the law!
The container came in in January you know...when the PL was in government.
Priscilla Darmenia •
Is it just a coincidence that such crimes are being caught and brought to justice now under this government?
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It is about time that somebody steps up to the plate and stop the corruption that goes on this tiny island. This is nothing new and it must be stopped. Cut the politics and the bribes and go right to the source whether it be the Oil Scandal, the Mep Scandal, the Olympics Scandal, the Court Scandal, the Smart Meter Scandal,the Customs Scandal, the Illegal Building Scandal and so on and so forth. The list goes on and on and it will take more than my comment to fill out the whole Scandal Bill.
