Updated | Suspected cannabis plants removed from Gozo roundabouts

Forensic experts have removed plants from various roundabouts across Gozo on suspicion that they are cannabis plants.

So far, the police could only confirm that the plants, 10cm high, were seized from the roundabouts after the alarm was raised.

“Samples of the plants are being tested. There is no official confirmation as yet that the plants are in fact cannabis,” a spokesperson for the Police force said.

It has been reported that some 200 plants were removed from roundabouts in Rabat, Zebbug, Marsalforn and Xewkija.

The roundabouts are cared for by the Environment Landscapes Consortium. ELC workers raised the alarm on Monday and immediately proceeded to file a report with the Gozitan police.

Police sources are not excluding the possibility that seeds of the cannabis plant were already mixed with the imported compost.

“The plants were found on the four roundabouts where the imported compost was used, raising suspicions that the compost may have included cannabis seeds,” a source told MaltaToday.

However, this does not explain how plants also managed to grow under the irrigation pipes. According to ELC human resources manager Norman Mifsud, the plant grew where it found most water, irrespective whether there was compost or not.

Mifsud believes that the seeds were planted by someone who wanted to cause harm to the company’s reputation.

ELC workers, supervised by members of the police force, are now searching other roundabouts as well. It took workers all of Wednesday and today to remove the plants by hand from the four roundabouts.

ELC have been caring for the roundabouts in Malta for the past 12 years. Mifsud said this is the first time such a thing ever happened.

“On Monday the workers noticed different plants growing among the flowers and they informed us immediately. We proceeded to file a police report and the CID were called in,” Mifsud told MaltaToday.

Inspectors Frank Tabone and Bernard Spiteri are investigating. Magistrate Paul Coppini is leading the inquiry.