Smuggled alcohol hidden among toilet paper

Over 700 bottles of vodka, whisky and gin were seized by Customs officers who found them hidden among toiletries and clothes on a truck arriving from Sicily on Sunday night.

A Customs Department spokesman said the truck, driven by an Italian man accompanied by a co-national, was stopped by inspectors of the enforcement division as it was leaving the quay at the sea passenger terminal in Marsa.

The truck was escorted for a search. Apart from the declared contents of toilet paper, tissues, clothes and wine glasses, the search revealed 708 bottles of undeclared alcoholic beverages.

The truck and the merchandise were confiscated. The Customs Department said this was the third haul of undeclared alcoholic drinks arriving from Sicily which they had seized in just over two weeks.

On September 23, Customs seized 151 boxes containing bottles of whisky, gin, rum and vodka at the same terminal.

The spirits were not in line with excise duty regulations and the owner only sought to declare the goods when Customs officers were on their way to inspect his truck.

On September 30, Customs seized a trailer after officers found 93 litres of wine and 154 bottles of spirits hidden among its declared cargo of mushrooms and tomatoes.