A security officer this morning was charged with complicity in the theft of a container laden with more than 10.5 million cigarettes  from the Freeport last August.

Patrick Pace, 49, from Birkirkara who was the fifth person arraigned over this case, pleaded not guilty. He is not a Freeport employee.

The court presided by Magistrate Gabriella Vella heard that on the night between September 2 and 3, the man was also found in possession of  10,000 cigarettes in his Mazda van, during a police search in Madliena. The Business Royals cigarettes which were found in 11 boxes, had a commercial value of €3,190.

Mr Pace was also accused of evading €17,462 in excise duty, €1,837 importation duty, and a further €4,048 in VAT. The prosecution said that these cigarettes were part of the large consignment which had gone missing from the Freeport on August 7.

He was granted bail against a deposit of €1,000 and a personal guarantee of €4,000.

Haulier Malcolm Zammit, 35, from Qormi, security officer Christopher Calleja, 51, from Valletta, customs officer Sebastian Zammit, 60, from Safi and Freeport employee Roderick Borg, 32, from Qormi are already facing proceeding related to this cigarette smuggling case. All of them have denied the charges.

During court proceedings it transpired that a container full of cigarettes which had entered the Freeport on July 24, went missing for about 90 minutes, only to be returned back without its contents.

The consignment was in 1,050 cases each containing 10,000 cigarettes valued at €304,500 in total. The men are alleged to have defrauded the government out of €1.667 million in excise duty, €175,000 in importation duty and €386,000 in Value Added Tax, for a combined figure of €2.23 million.

Inspectors Rennie Stivala and Carlos Cordina prosecuted while lawyers Veronique Dalli and Edward Gatt were defence counsel.