Five million cigarettes seized at freeport

Customs officials and police yesterday seized about five million cigarettes from a container at the Malta Freeport.

It is the second major haul of cigarettes at the freeport in the space of a fortnight. On December 3, customs officials seized 14.6 million smuggled cigarettes from a container declared to be carrying water taps.

The container involved yesterday had documentation which described the cargo as being glassware for the local market.

The police were noted guarding the exits near the freeport throughout the day yesterday.

Freeport authorities accompanied by police and customs officials scanned the container late in the afternoon and detained it after they made their discovery.

The container will be taken away this morning for further investigations.