Man's death caused by drug overdose

An autopsy on a man found dead in Żejtun on Christmas Day concluded he died of a drug overdose, but the one carried out on the corpse of a 20-year-old man found dead in Sliema remained inconclusive.

Police sources said more toxicological tests had to be carried out to establish the cause of death in Sliema. However, they said everything pointed towards a drug overdose.

The Romanian was found dead beneath Surfside restaurant by a woman who was walking her dog on the beach.

The man did not have any identification on him but was later identified by his adoptive parents on Christmas Day.

Police sources said the man was a heroin addict and had overdosed twice in the last month. Investigators believe the young man had been depressed for some time.

In Żejtun, it was Mark Caruana's mother who found him dead in his bedroom when she went to wake him up for Christmas lunch.

Police sources said the 30-year-old, who worked abroad and came to Malta to visit his family, first took a dose of cocaine, followed closely by a dose of heroin. This "lethal concoction" was topped up with alcohol.

The fact that Mr Caruana was clean for some time while he was abroad made the situation worse, police sources said.

The Drug Squad arrested four people in Paceville on Christmas Day after they were found in possession of ecstasy and cocaine. Aged between 16 and 25, those arrested reside in Mosta, Żabbar, Qormi and Attard.