Lm50,000 worth of undeclared alcohol, mobile phones seized

Customs officials yesterday seized undeclared alcohol and 780 mobile phones worth thousands of Maltese liri in, all soon after the cargo arrived from Sicily on the ferry Island Seaway.

A 24-year-old man from Zabbar is expected to be arraigned in court in connection with the case, the police said.

The customs department said the haul consisted of 21 boxes each containing six bottles and two boxes each containing 12 bottles of whisky, vodka, Campari and Baileys and 780 mobile phones.

The department said the haul was valued at Lm50,000, excluding excise duties and VAT which has not been paid.

The department said the quantity of mobile phones was the largest ever caught being imported illegally into Malta.

The mv Island Seaway arrived in Grand Harbour on one of its trips from Catania yesterday morning. The vessel runs the service three times a week.

The Customs Department said that while attending to their normal duties at the port, customs officials stopped a truck which had just been taken off the ferry and carried out a routine search in the truck's cabin as the vehicle was about to go out at the gate of the New Quay at Pinto Wharf.

The department said that in the search the officials found alcohol and mobile phones.

The truck was carrying gypsum.