Malta’s most wanted: The individuals escaping justice

 

With a total area of 316sq.km and surrounded by the sea, evading authorities in Malta is no easy task, yet many have managed to do so.

From alleged murderers to people harbouring fugitives, we break down Malta’s wanted list to see the outlaws who are still on the run from the country’s authorities.

Alexandra Dalmas

Alexandra Dalmas, 62, is wanted by the police over a pending court case. In 2021, she was arrested, charged and convicted for hiding her fugitive boyfriend and notorious criminal Joseph Cini, known as 'Il-Pele' in 2011.

Cini is one of the country’s most prolific criminals, with a court explicitly saying he has a “colourful and voluminous criminal record” during a 2018 arraignment.

Cini was on the run after managing to escape from Mater Dei Hospital in August 2011 after he was taken there from prison - where he had been remanded in custody - complaining of chest pains. He had claimed to have been left unattended when he asked to go the toilet. He was caught 24 hours later, after a rooftop chase in St Venera.

Dalmas however had argued that she had harboured the man at her flat because she was afraid of him. She was separately charged together with Cini of burglary from a house, while also being charged for harbouring a criminal because the police believed that she knew his whereabouts when he was on the run although she denied any knowledge.

In 2013, the Court of Criminal Appeal confirmed her conviction, reducing her jail time by just a month.

Faisal Meftah Elmghairbi

Faisal Meftah Elmghairbi, 33, is wanted by the police over a pending court case. In 2020, he was released on bail after being charged with grievously injuring two fellow countrymen with a knife in a confrontation in Gzira.

He was arrested after being spotted near the Msida skatepark and was then on the wanted list because his alleged victims were reluctant to reveal who the assailant was. The two alleged victims had initially refused to speak, telling police that they did not know the suspect aggressor.

Elmghairbi pleaded not guilty to grievously injuring the two men, carrying a knife in public without a permit and breaching the peace.

He was released on bail and has not been seen since.

Ramzi Abdulhafid Ib Abukem

Ramzi Abdulhafid Ib Abukem, a former soldier in Gaddafi’s army, had managed to slip under the police’s radar some time in 2022 and has likely absconded from Malta. The police have, in fact, also issued an international arrest warrant for the fugitive murder suspect.

There are unconfirmed rumours that he has returned to Libya, other accounts say he has been murdered.

Ib Abukem first appeared in court in January 2016, charged together with another man, with the attempted murder of a fellow countryman in Swieqi, in a stabbing allegedly motivated by the political turmoil and infighting between rival Libyan governments at the time.

Five months later, he was back in court, charged with the attempted murder of three Paceville bouncers. A Samurai sword was allegedly used in the attack.

The following year, Ib Abukem was charged again, this time with committing aggravated theft and cocaine possession.

In May 2018, Ib Abukem was charged with his second murder after being accused, together with Hamza Kamen Bakoush, of beating and stabbing fellow Libyan national Mahmoud Elmejdi to death on a Hamrun street in 2017. Bakoush is currently serving time in prison for other crimes.

Later that year, Ib Abukem was once again in court, charged with robbing a man at knifepoint inside a St. Paul’s Bay bar and cocaine possession, whilst out on bail.

In 2019, Ib Abukem faced two separate arraignments in the same month. He was first accused of robbing a family and being in possession of an illegal firearm.

He was granted bail on 7 August, only to be arrested 12 days later after allegedly robbing an elderly woman at knifepoint.

In April 2022, Ib Abukem had also been arrested in connection with the murder of Mario Farrugia who was found dead in a car in Ħal Qormi, but was not charged after evidence emerged showing that he was not involved. Abukem was, however, a prosecution witness in that case.

Ricardo Ortega Espana

Ricardo Ortega Espana, 34, from Spain, is wanted by the police in relation to investigations on drug trafficking and a shooting that occurred in Msida in 2021. On 2 October of that year, officers from the Rapid Intervention Unit found blood in the common area and on the door of a fifth-floor apartment.

This led to suspicions that someone was hiding in the apartment, with the Special Intervention Unit called in to assist in the investigations.

Despite finding no one inside, sharp weapons and drugs were found inside the apartment.

A bullet was also found in front of the building. Police said shots were fired in the air during the altercation.

The victim, a 31-year-old Libyan, was found in Birkirkara, with slight wounds to his head, the next day. A 39-year-old from Cuba, was also arrested.

Mahmud Abd Al Salam El Adaw

Mahmud Abd Al Salam El Adaw is wanted in relation to a pending court case. In 2020, he was remanded in custody after he was charged in connection with a stabbing that took place in St Paul's Bay.

An inspector had told the court that Mahmud Abd Al Salam El Adaw had been living in Malta for 15 years. He had also said that CCTV had showed him approaching a shop owner, acting aggressively towards him, before stabbing him in the stomach.

Benjamin Zammit Tabona

Benjamin Zammit Tabona is wanted by the police over a pending court case. In 2017, he pleaded guilty to charges of having defrauded four individuals, one of whom is believed to be his landlord.

50-year-old Zammit Tabona from Sliema, then a company director, had tried to buy alcohol and pay rent using cheques that bounced.

No details of the circumstances surrounding the charges had emerged in court, after Zammit Tabona’s defence counsel, lawyer Peter Fenech and prosecuting police inspector Jonathan Ransley approached the bench to discuss the case with the magistrate, out of earshot of the press.

That court had ordered that the case continue before the Rent Regulation Board, due to changes in the law which had rendered it competent to decide the issue.

Zammit Tabona had pleaded guilty to the charges and was handed a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years, and had been placed on a supervision and treatment order.

Osabuohien Monday

Osabuohien Monday is wanted by the police in order to serve a jail term which was handed by the Gozo courts.​ No publicly available information was found on Monday.

Bobur Zufarov and Davron Zufarov

53-year-old Davron Zufarov and 25-year-old Bobur Zufarov, both of Uzbek nationality are wanted by the police as they are summoned to appear in court. No information is publicly available on their case.

Others

Noel Portelli, Fouad Bouhayoufi, Ibrahim Hassan Bare, Islam Gomaa Mohamed and Dori Plaku are also wanted by the police over pending court cases and investigations, but no information is publicly available on the individuals.