Sophie the sniffer dog nabs €43,800 in cash at seaport

Sophie the customs sniffer dog has done it again, nabbing more than €43,000 in undeclared cash on a French couple boarding the ferry to Italy.

In the early hours of Monday, the dog positively identified the vehicle in which a French man and woman were travelling, the Customs Department said.

When confronted, both individuals admitted they were carrying around €20,000 each. A search of their vehicle and belongings yielded €21,850 and €21,950, respectively from each passenger.

According to EU-wide legislation, any cash of signed cheques valued at €10,000 or more have to be declared to customs when travelling to, through and from Malta. Failure to do so will result in confiscation of the additional money.

Customs said the passengers agreed to sign an out of court settlement agreement and were fined accordingly.

The department said that since the beginning of the year, the customs anti-money laundering team with the assistance of the canine team intercepted a total €556,182 of undeclared cash in 34 separate cases.