Carmelo Grech was caught with over €300,000 in cash.

Carmelo Grech could be deported to Malta rather than having to face smuggling charges in a Libyan court, The Sunday Times of Malta has learnt.

In the latest twist in Mr Grech’s case, it is understood that he faces the possibility of deportation.

Libyan authorities were poised to press charges of smuggling against Mr Grech after he was caught with over €300,000 cash at Labrak airport in Al Bayda.

It is not clear what led to this sudden change of heart. The Maltese government has been communicating with the internationally recognised Tobruk government since Mr Grech was first arrested earlier this month.

Sources said Mr Grech, 60, had contacted his family in Malta yesterday and informed them he was in good health.

The Maltese sea captain was taken into custody by anti-Islamist General Khalifa Haftar’s army along with Jordanian Saud Abdelrahman Saud and two other Algerians.

It is not clear whether Mr Grech’s associates will still face charges in Libya.

If he is deported he will probably not face criminal proceedings since the alleged crime took place outside of Malta’s jurisdiction.

Mr Grech, who owns a trawler through his family business, Gulf Fisheries Ltd, has strong links with Libya. He is known in the conflict-torn State as one of several fishermen who ferried medical aid to Misurata during the 2011 Gaddafi uprising.

It is still not clear why Mr Grech travelled to Libya to pick up the €300,000, whether it was owed to him or if he was collecting the money on behalf of a third party.

Mr Grech was originally held at the Libyan National Army headquarters in the city of Al Marj, 83km east of Benghazi, and has since been transferred to the Garnata high security prison.

Meanwhile, a Syrian-born Maltese man, who was one of five people arrested in Tripoli over alleged smuggling on Wednesday, is yet to be charged in court.

The unidentified man, a ship’s engineer, was apprehended on board a Togo-registered oil tanker in an operation by the Zuwara coastguard.

In a post on Facebook, the coastguard in Zuwara, Libya, said that it would use “an iron fist” against smugglers.