Customs officers find pistols in arriving passengers' luggage

The police are questioning two people after they were found in possession of two automatic pistols when they arrived from Istanbul/Sofia on an Air Malta flight last Thursday evening.

A spokesman for the Customs Department said the two were stopped by Customs officers at the arrivals lounge when they were going through the Blue Exit, which is the exit point for passengers arriving from EU countries.

The officials scanned the two pieces of luggage the two Maltese passengers were carrying and noticed on their monitor two items that looked like pistols.

The luggage had arrived in the plane's hold and was collected by the two passengers from the carousel at arrivals. The spokesman added that further investigations showed the pistols were purchased in Bulgaria and were not declared to Customs.

The weapons were confiscated and handed over to the police for further investigation.