Police smash four gangs operating in Gozo

The police have smashed four criminal gangs operating in Gozo, sources said yesterday.

Two separate gangs in Gozo were identifying targets for two gangs in Malta. In order to avoid being detected by the police, the Malta gangs used to travel to Gozo in a rubber dinghy, the sources said.

As a result of penetrating the gangs, the police foiled a planned hold-up on a cash van, the sources added.

Weapons found by police officers in Mqabba on August 14 are believed to have been intended to be used in the planned attack on the cash van. Two sawn-off shotguns and a sub-machine gun were among the firearms seized.

The police also solved a case of theft from two elderly people and are actively investigating other similar thefts, which the police believe were committed by the same gangs.

Two men have already been separately charged in court in connection with these cases and more people are expected to be arraigned, the sources said.