Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1113313
9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 MAY 2019 NEWS Untitled-2 1 11/04/2019 15:22 K ARL AZZOPARDI MALTA'S Customs Depart- ment has stunned the public with high-profile busts on container transhipments that so far, have resulted in sei- zures of over 750kgs of co- caine – an estimated value of €83.9 million on the street. The 'secret', customs in- spector George Agius says, is a €1.5 million Nutech scan- ner the department installed in 2017. Its X-ray imaging of the internal contents of a con- tainer gives the department an edge on the fight against the drug trade. In 2018, the Malta Freeport Terminals handled a record 3.31 million TEU (twenty- foot equivalent unit) contain- ers, and this year it will be ramping up to increase its ca- pacity to handle four million TEUs. Over 2,200 vessels call at the Freeport every year. These records have also meant a busy time for the Customs Department, which is breaking its own records. During April, in three con- tainers bound for Albania and Montenegro, Customs personnel discovered 120 packets worth of cocaine, weighing 144kg, inside the re- frigeration compressor unit of the containers. All three con- tainers arrived in Malta from South American destinations. Agius says the Nutech scan- ner has enabled Customs to double the number of con- tainers scanned, with a pre- dicted 10% increase in busts. "Our department invested heavily in equipment, infra- structure, training, human logistics and intelligence. We also revisited our modus op- erandi and this is giving re- sults," he said. Sniffer dogs, trained to smell major narcotics like cocaine, heroin, even cannabis and seven types of tobacco and also money bills, help officials in tracking down illegal mer- chandise. "Our risk profiling is based on several criteria. We look at the selected cargo mani- fest and scrutinise the dec- larations in several aspects with a 'Customs' eye. We also conduct random checks on a regular basis," Agius said. Further information on the criteria was not disclosed due to Customs protocol. "Our equipment is amongst the best on the market – state of the art. Nevertheless, we constantly follow the non- intrusive inspections indus- try to understand if there are newer versions. Enhance- ment is very costly, but at the same time this is money well spent," Agius said. The recent surge in con- tainer busts originating from South America has thrown a spotlight on countries of ori- gin that tend to fall in with traditional risk profiles in the so-called war on drugs. "You can say that some countries pose a higher risk and therefore cargo arriving from there is most likely to be flagged and selected for control," Agius said. "When drugs in a container are un- covered, the police anti-drug squad step in. Immediately af- ter a drug find, we contact the police who in turn inform the duty magistrate. From there on the substance is passed over to the judicial authori- ties," he said. The container containing the drugs is held at the Cus- toms warehouse accompanied by 24-hour police protection until a magistrate is assigned to the case. Tech gives Customs the edge on South American cocaine busts The Nutech scanner analysing the internal contents of a container