Fugitive Jomic Maatouk arrested in Libya, wife Marzia found dead

The wife of fugitive criminal Jomic Calleja Maatouk, was found dead yesterday after her husband was apprehended in Libya, on the strength of an Interpol arrest warrant.

Last August, the couple vanished days after Calleja Maatouk was sentenced to five years in prison for importing explosives and attempting to buy a lethal poison on the dark web. The couple were subsequently placed on the most-wanted list at Interpol.

On Wednesday morning, the couple was located roughly 90 minutes east of Tripoli, where Libyan authorities were immediately informed through diplomatic channels. Within hours, Maltese-trained Libyan troops were dispatched to the area where a dead body that matched the description of Marzia Calleja Maatouk was found.

The Polonium plot: how Jomic Calleja trawled dark web for explosives and radioactive poison

Jomic Calleja Maatouk was caught and arrested on Thursday evening following a search of the surrounding area.

The Maltese authorities were informed that his wife, Marzia, 24, had been found dead. Her brother Marvin Zammit posted a tribute to her on Friday morning, ‘‘I won't see you again, I can't believe it,’’ he wrote on Facebook. 

Jomic Calleja Maatouk is expected to be convicted in Malta where he is wanted for having skipped bail. He was described as ‘‘a potential instrument of mass harm’’ by a Magistrate last year after the court heard how he first tried to purchase doses of radioactive material, killer poison, and highly potent synthetic on the dark web. When he was unable to obtain these, he ordered an explosive, C-4.

His wife, Marzia, was not involved in his dark web case but was also convicted back in 2019 after being caught with 340 grams of cannabis in a car with intent to traffic.

After finding the home of the two was found left disorganized, it raised alarms for Marzia’s family as it wasn’t common for them. Marzia’s relatives had gotten the police involved, leading to a Europe-wide manhunt and Europol listing the couple on its list of most wanted fugitives last August. At the time, it was believed that the couple fled Malta by sea and was hiding in Serbia.