Two men were granted bail today after pleading not guilty to smuggling two shotguns from Libya and attempting to sell them on the black market.

Manolito Magri, 35 of Santa Venera, and Albert Fenech, 44 of Gharghur, who both work on a ship which transports goods from Libya to Malta, were arraigned in court this afternoon and charged with importing and possessing two pump action shotguns without a licence from the Police Commissioner.

The two shotguns were valued at a total of €500, excluding the unpaid importation duty and VAT which amounted to €16 and €93 respectively.

The two men allegedly smuggled the weapons into the island from Libya in December. The police were tipped off that the weapons were about to be trafficked and the two men were arrested as they were transferring the weapons from one car into another in Gharghur.

Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi requested bail, arguing that his clients were first-time offenders and pointing out that they had fully collaborated with the police.

He pointed out that the issue only boiled down to two shotguns, one of which did not work.

Their cars were also subject to confiscation, and had a much higher value than the two shotguns.

Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona conceded that the quantity was not a large one and granted the two men bail against a personal guarantee of €5,000.

Police inspector Carlos Cordina prosecuted