Carmelo Grech, the Maltese sea captain who was being held in Libya, was on his way back to Malta late yesterday after being released from a high security prison.

Mr Grech had come tantalisingly close to coming home earlier this week, with initial plans to put him on a flight falling through at the last minute.

Sources yesterday said he was expected to land in Malta late last night.

He was arrested in Eastern Libya last month when he was caught carrying at least €300,000 in cash at Labrak airport. He was initially held by the Libyan National Army, loyal to anti-Islamist Khalifa Haftar, at their headquarters in the city of al Bayda.

He was eventually transferred to a high security prison where he was expected to be charged with unspecified smuggling.

The charges, however, were never filed, and sources said differing factions in war-torn Libya were caught up in a tug of war over Mr Grech’s future.

Some authorities were open to the prospect of releasing Mr Grech, while others were dead set against it

The sources said some Libyan authorities were open to the prospect of releasing Mr Grech, while others, however, were dead set against it.

It is not known why Mr Grech was in possession of the money but sources said he had travelled their specifically to pick it up. 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.

Meanwhile, a second Maltese national was yesterday detained in connection with fuel smuggling. He was aboard Maltese registered tanker the Santa Cruz, which was stopped by the Libyan coast guard as part of an anti-smuggling operation.

The Maltese, along with four Egyptians also on the vessel, were taken to Misurata by the Zuwara coast guard. Libyan media reports suggest the vessel may have been carrying as much as 100,000 litres of diesel.

Last week another Maltese man, this time Syrian-born, was also arrested in Libya in connection with fuel smuggling. The unidentified man, a ship’s engineer, was apprehended on board a Togo-registered oil tanker in an operation by the Zuwara, Libya, coastguard. In a recent post on Facebook, the coastguard in Zuwara said that it would use “an iron fist” against fuel smugglers.