Maltese man arrested in Sicily with 231kg of cannabis

A Maltese man has been arrested by Sicilian police in Pozzallo after being caught with 231kgs of cannabis, amounting to a street value of over €1.5 million, Sicilian media said on Thursday.

The 32-year-old was caught as he was boarding the Jean De La Valette catamaran heading back to Malta.

The reports said that the driver worked for a well-known Maltese transport company. He is said to have been driving in a lorry when two dogs raised the alarm.

The lorry was then stopped and searched, with all the goods it was carrying unloaded, including kilos of forzen food. This led to discovery of five large packages containing 114 of vacuum-sealed packages of cannabis.

The accused will be charged with trafficking of a large amount of cannabis in the Ragusa district.

Police are currently investigating in order to discover the origin of the drugs, the reports said.