Suspected drug courier had lots of debts, police investigating Malta links

Duncan Petroni, 36 of Birkirkara, faced a slew of debt in Malta, with unpaid personal loans and other claims from business firms breathing down his neck.

An inquiry by MaltaToday has established that the courts had as recently as January 2010, ordered Petroni to pay back a private loan he secured from a third party, amounting to a total of €35,679 with interest.

Court records also show that Triton Investments, a company he is a shareholder in, is facing a €44,000 garnishee order by Bank of Valletta. Credit records also feature a €3,800 garnishee order by Go plc, another private claim of €2,800 filed in court against him, and a dishonoured credit agreement of €1,450.

In total, it seems Petroni was facing up to €87,000 in debts when he left for the Brazilian town of Curitiba, in the state of Paranà, where he was apprehended. Policia Federal later released photos of him and his Romanian partner Silvia Stanica arriving at Curitiba airport.

The Maltese police are now following up investigations into his Maltese business connections.

Up until Wednesday morning, it is believed Petroni was still updating his social Facebook page with photos of his family and his brand new Range Rover, with its licence plate bearing his initials DRP and 007 – the number associated with fictional secret agent James Bond.

In 2009, it appears he had already visited Brazil and Miami, in the United States, where his Facebook profile shows he enjoyed some friendships. Earlier this week when he was apprehended, Petroni was wearing a Brazil football gear.

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). Shots were fired during the operation that involved 40 officers from Paranà’s federal police and plai- clothes officers from the American DEA.

He was arrested together with Stanica and another four Brazilian nationals who were reportedly caught red-handed while handling 13kgs 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 Maltese Security Services and the Drugs Squad had yielded enough intelligence to have it circulated to other police forces around the world, including the DEA and Interpol.

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.

The Paranà state prosecutor described the operation as having dealt “a serious blow to the masterminds behind serious drug trafficking from Brazil to the Mediterranean.”

Additional reporting by Matthew Vella