Maltese player in major cocaine trafficking ring wanted for extradition to Italy & More News Here

A Maltese man suspected of being a key determine in a major Italy-Malta cocaine trafficking ring has been arrested in Malta on the again of a request from Italian authorities.  

John Spiteri, 56, generally known as Gianni, was arrested on Friday in Malta on the energy of a European Arrest Warrant issued by the Italian police.  

He is anticipated to be arraigned on Saturday afternoon, with a courtroom set to determine whether or not to switch him to Italy the place he’ll face fees of conspiracy and racketeering linked to a major trans-European drug trafficking operation.  

Last 12 months, Spiteri had been amongst a gaggle of 16 individuals arrested in Italy as a part of a covert police sting to bust a drug ring that moved cocaine and hashish into Malta and Italy. 

‘Operation La Vallette’

Codenamed ‘Operation La Vallette’, the Italian investigation had discovered how the felony organisation moved medicine from Albania and the Italian areas of Puglia and Calabria into Sicily and Malta, the place they had been bought.   

Spiteri is suspected of dealing with the Maltese finish of the operation.  

A complete of 430kg in hashish, hashish resin and cocaine was seized by Italy’s Guardia di Finanza as a part of the bust.  

Some 100 officers from Italy’s monetary police Guardia di Finanza in Catania, Sicily and the intense crimes unit had been concerned in the probe, which was made in Catania, Ragusa, and Syracuse in Sicily and in Calabria in mainland Italy.  

Wiretaps, homicide and medicines – courtroom paperwork felony conspiracy 

The major Malta-Italy drug ring was laid naked in Italian courtroom paperwork which element how cocaine and hashish had been smuggled into the island utilizing a neighborhood ferry firm earlier than being hidden in an Attard fruit and vegetable store. 

The paperwork, seen by Times of Malta, embody reams of transcripts of recorded conversations from inside drug smugglers’ vehicles in addition to intercepted phone calls between Maltese and Italian traffickers who ultimately turned on each other.

At one level they even mentioned killing one among their associates whom they suspected of collaborating with the police. 

Fabian Catania, additionally 55, was named as one of many Maltese gamers however was not arrested in ‘Operation La Vallette’.

He is already going through felony proceedings in Malta for alleged drug trafficking relationship again to 2018. 

Documents compiled by Italian prosecutors paint an image of how Spiteri and the Italian Rosario Amico organised shipments of medication from Puglia to Malta between 2018 and 2019 and the way Catania had acted as a courier driving a Malta-registered Isuzu. 

Other Italians and Albanians had additionally delivered shipments to Italy and Malta.  

The investigation started with a give attention to Amico, with the police working their means out from him, constructing an online of recognized associates throughout Sicily, southern Italy and Malta. 

Living effectively past his means

Video surveillance of Amico’s house and his a number of journeys to Malta in fast succession led the police to evaluate his funds with the tax authorities who discovered he was residing effectively past his means. 

He would typically purchase new luxurious vehicles and boats and owned two prestigious properties whereas declaring a modest revenue.  

Checks with Maltese ferry firm Virtu Ferries established that he was travelling to Malta a number of occasions a 12 months, as was an affiliate of his, Albanian nationwide Eriseld Hoxhaj, generally known as Riku. 

“Various [drug] transfers to Malta were monitored through the boarding lists provided by the Virtu Ferries company by Hoxhaj, Amico and others,” the paperwork learn. 

Amico’s son, Ray would additionally journey with the group and the Italian investigators established that he was delegated by his father to gather fee for drug shipments and to preserve contact with Spiteri, who headed the Maltese facet of the operation.

Wiretaps of conversations between Amico and Spiteri are described by the Italian prosecutors as “typical of the dynamics of narcotics trafficking” in which they focus on costs of shipments and new strategies of supply.  

The prosecutors declare there was a heated fee dispute with Spiteri following the cargo of packets of hashish.  

In one intercepted dialog, two of Amico’s associates are heard discussing how they feared Spiteri wanted them useless. 

“Surely Gianni [Spiteri] paid them to kill me… he wanted to kill me!” one unnamed suspect says in a prolonged transcript.  

Later, the paperwork focus on how the workplace of the Maltese Attorney General had knowledgeable Italian prosecutors that Catania had been arrested in Malta in June 2018 after he was discovered in possession of 85kg of hashish.

An Attard fruit and vegetable store

The medicine, believed to originate from the identical smuggling operation, had been discovered hidden inside a fruit and vegetable store in Attard. A storage and a warehouse in Marsa have additionally been recognized. 

In one other part of the courtroom paperwork, the Italian prosecutors element how Amico and Spiteri met in Sicily and at one level mentioned the usage of plastic beverage containers to smuggle medicine into Malta.  

During that assembly, Amico warned Spiteri that their Albanian associates had been rising conscious of him. 

“They are convinced that you are dangerous, reckless and that when you try to make more and more money you aren’t cautious enough,” Amico tells Spiteri in an intercepted dialog.

Amico goes on to implore Spiteri to watch out. Prudence, he says, is important if they’re to keep away from any “unpleasant surprises”.

“You cannot neglect this otherwise you’re done. People end up in jail; are we going to end up there too? Police have their eyes open. We aren’t importing sweets or cakes here. You understand?” Amico tells him. 

‘Papa they’re ready for you’

Spiteri then tells Amico that he fears he and his brother are in grave hazard. He tells Amico that “the Croats” are trying for him over an €80,000 debt and that he fears they intend to kill him. 

Later, Spiteri tells Amico that they’ve an issue with one among their drug couriers and that they might have to take issues into their very own fingers. 

“We need to get rid of that asshole… that guy who opened his mouth… that guy who drove the truck,” Spiteri says.  

In a subsequent transcript, ostensibly fearing the closing noose of legislation enforcement, Amico tells Spiteri that he’s satisfied that if he travels to Malta he can have his passport seized. 

“My son Pietro told me when he last returned: ‘Papa they’re waiting for you there’.” 

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