Police confirm and defend purchase of reportedly fake drug/bomb detection devices

The drug/bomb detection devices – reported by the BBC as being little more than toys – “sometimes” gave positive results and led to drug finds, the Police Force maintain, defending its reportedly-costly acquisitions.

1 February 2011, 12:00am
by Nestor Laiviera

2 min read

The Police statement came in the wake of a BBC coverage aired last week – reported locally exclusively by MaltaToday.com – that claimed that the Maltese Police Force and the Prison Division were taken in by fraudsters selling supposedly cutting-edge bomb detection devices but that are in fact merely toys.

According to the report, Malta was one of the first countries targeted by suspected British sellers of fake detectors currently being investigated by fraud police. It reported that the Malta Police Force was “persuaded” to part with “large sums of money in exchange for two of the devices,” while the Prison service bought another one.

Patrick Cuschieri (MIA Head of Security) told the BBC that the device is little more than a toy. “If I want the equipment to point at you, I just do that,” he says, gesturing with the ‘detector’. “It is just the way you swing your wrist.” The BBC also shows footage of Maltese Army personnel ‘sweeping’ locations with the detector.

In its statement, the Police confirmed that it bought two of these units in 1998, from a company based in Kent, UK. It however omitted mentioning the actual price paid in return for the units. Questions sent to the Police Force in this regard, as well as regarding who authorised the purchase, remain unanswered

Rebutting the claims, the Police maintained that “from information by experts who used these kits in Malta”, the Police said that” it did not agree with the allegations made regarding these devices – namely that they are some sort of ‘toy’.”

The Police maintained that these kits “sometimes” gave positive results, so much so that the Anti-Drug Squad even managed to discover drugs through their use.

However, the Police also said, that “experience showed that the efficiency of these kits is highly dependent on the person operating them.” The Police added that it is in contact with UK authorities to discover more information regarding the allegations that were made regarding these devices.