'Malta-based drug dealer' arrested in Sicily

Maltese drug squad police, working hand in hand with Italian investigators, have dealt another blow to drug traffickers after a Malta-based Briton was arrested in Sicily.

Though the man was arrested on August 6, local police withheld information about the arrest not to prejudice local investigations.

Police sources said it was evident there was a ring of British nationals operating from Malta who were involved in drug running in the UK and here and who imported drugs from Spain and Holland.

Richard Alistair Cranston, who lives in St Julians, was arrested in Sicily on the strength of insider information, police sources said. Four kilos of cocaine were found in a picnic cooler in a hired car, parked close to an airport.

The man had earlier left Malta for Spain and is believed to have travelled overland to Sicily, from where he crossed to Malta by catamaran. On Sunday, August 6, he left again for Sicily, where he was shadowed and arrested.

The car in which the drugs were found was hired on his name and he had just renewed the rental agreement for another three days.

Local police believe the drug was destined for the local market. It is understood the cocaine was bought in Spain for around Lm15,000 per kilo and the local street value is estimated to be in the region of Lm250,000. It was being kept cool to retain its freshness and effect.

The arrest was possible because an informer was tipping local police off "with every move".

Mr Cranston is now expected to faced charges in a Sicilian court.

The police suspect there may be links between this case and a case involving the find of 50,500 ecstasy tablets, weighing over 14 kilogrammes, at the seaport last month. Englishman Steven John Lewis Marsden has been charged in that case.

Investigators also see the possibility of a link with a case in which another Briton, Mark Charles Kenneth Stephens, was extradited to Malta from Spain.

Mr Marsden was arrested last July and stands charged with importing over 50,000 ecstasy pills and conspiring to deal in the drugs,

During the compilation of evidence, the court heard that he told the police he foolishly accepted to smuggle the ecstasy from Spain only because he was low on cash.

Police Inspector Ciappara told the court that Mr Marsden had came in to Malta from Sicily aboard the catamaran MV Maria Dolores on July 9, and that the investigation had been going on for several months. The police even had a picture of the suspect.

Mr Marsden told the police he had been living in Malta for about a year and that he obtained the drugs from Spain.