UPDATED 4: Arrested Maltese cocaine trafficker facing 15 years in Brazilian jail

Duncan Petroni and his Romanian partner Silvia Stanica are to face charges of conspiracy, international drug trafficking and possession of € 1 million worth of pure cocaine that was intended to be shipped to Malta from Brazil.

CCTV Photos of Petroni and Stanica arriving at Curitiba's International Airport on Monday were released by the Federal Police from the State of Parana', while other photographs showed how the drugs were found.

Petroni was arrested early Thursday morning by the Brazilian Federal Police in the city of Curitiba in a sting that also involved the participation of agents from the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

He was arrested together with his Romanian partner Silvia Stanica and another four Brazilian nationals who were reportedly caught red-handed while handling 13 kgs of pure cocaine, putting them into boxes with air condition units and loading them onto a container that was to be shipped to Malta.

MaltaToday is informed that Duncan Petroni was placed on Interpol’s ‘watch list’ six months ago as investigations carried out by the Security Services and the Police Drugs Squad had yielded enough intelligence to have it circulated to other police forces around the world, including the DEA.

Petroni was known to be a frequent visitor to Brazil and Miami in the United States, while his business connections were also placed under the Interpol radar.

Speaking to MaltaToday, a senior police official welcomed the news of Petroni’s arrest in Brazil and said that the quantities of drugs that have been seized justified the concerns on the man and his connections.

Code-named ‘Operacao Malta’ the Brazilian Federal Police have also raided some 13 addresses of residences and companies, all apparently connected to the criminal organisation.

Brazil’s  Parana’ State Prosecutor described the operation conducted by the Policia Federal (PF) as  a success and added:  “today we have dealt a serious blow to the masterminds behind serious drug trafficking from Brazil to the Mediterranean.”

Shots were fired during the operation that involved 50 officers from the Federal Police of Parana’ and plain clothes officers from the American DEA.

Petroni is listed as a shareholder in USA Boats Ltd and Triton Investments, the latter company facing a €44,000 garnishee order by Bank of Valletta. Earlier in 2010, a court ordered him to pay back a €35,000 loan he secured from two private citizens.

National TV station PBS last night carried the story as revealed by MaltaToday.com.mt and quoted details as described by this news portal, however the report failed to give due credit to MaltaToday. The report included exclusive photographs obtained by MaltaToday from Brazil.

See photos