Thirty tons of cannabis resin which were destroyed by fire on a ship off Malta on Friday-Saturday night had an estimated street value of €300 million.

The drug was torched when the crew of the Tanzanian registered vessel Gold Star realised they had been intercepted by Italian authorities 30 nautical miles off Malta.

The crew was picked up by the Italian Coast Guard and the ship is being towed to Italy for further investigations by the Guardia di Finanza.

It is believed that the vessel had not been heading for Malta.

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