Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1429136
3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 17 NOVEMBER 2021 NEWS KURT SANSONE ITALIAN police have busted a Catania drug ring that import- ed cocaine and marijuana from Albania and the Netherlands for trafficking in eastern Sicily and Malta. The Carabinieri arrested 12 people during an operation codenamed Alter Ego in Catania on Tuesday. Three men were caught red-handed unloading boxes of pasta from a vehicle that were used to disguise 242kg of marijuana. The group, which is also ac- cused of associating with the mafia, imported the illegal sub- stances from Albania, Neth- erlands, and the Calabria and Puglia regions in mainland Italy. It sold the cocaine and marijua- na in the Syracuse region of Sic- ily and Malta. No further details were given on the Malta connec- tion. The Italian police said the crim- inal gang had links with the Cap- pello and Bonacorsi mafia clans. NICOLE MEILAK MGC Pharma is set to benefit from a new production facility in Ħal Far, where the company will produce over 20,000 units of liquid dose medicines, including its flagship COVID-19 treatment CimetrA. The facility was opened and in- augurated yesterday in the pres- ence of Enterprise Minister Mir- iam Dalli and Consumer Affairs Parliamentary Secretary Deo De- battista. Malta Enterprise handed the company a €3.1 million cash grant to fund the construction costs of the new facility. Apart from increased produc- tion capacity, the new facility will create 12 to 20 new jobs for the industry. The company's Malta facility will produce CimetrA, a novel pharma product with anti-in- flammatory properties. It has been used to alleviate COVID-19 symptoms in patients suffering from the virus but can also be designed for multiple therapeutic applications. At the launch, Nativ Segev, the founder and director of MGC Pharmaceuticals, said that the company worked closely with its partner Biopharmax to ensure that the facility was built on time and in line with the Malta Enter- prise stipulations. Meanwhile, Deo Debattista praised the Malta Medicines Au- thority for working closely with academic and pharmaceutical entities to spur economic growth while meeting medicinal needs. This investment results from a Malta Enterprise scheme de- signed to provide financial sup- port for investment projects that increase or initiate the produc- tion of products related to COV- ID-19. MGC Pharma's new investment is the result of this scheme. With the second plant facility also focusing on medicinal can- nabis, Dalli said that government wants to see Malta become a research centre for this type of treatment. "I want to reiterate our support not only to MGC Pharma but to all investors who believe in such products," she said. 64 new COVID-19 cases were registered on Tuesday, figures published by the Health Ministry show. No new deaths were registered in the last 24-hours, as such the total number of deaths stands at 462. Active cases stand at 636 af- ter 31 recoveries were registered. There are currently 16 corona- virus patients being cared for at Mater Dei Hospital, of which two are in the ITU. Until yesterday, 911,620 vac- cine doses were administered, of which 79,203 were booster doses. Italian police bust Catania mafia drug ring that trafficked cocaine, marijuana to Malta Malta company to produce COVID treatment Italian Carabinieri busted a Catania drug ring with mafia connections that trafficked marijuana and cocaine in Malta CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Standards Commissioner George Hyzler concluded in July that Cutajar had breached ethics when she failed to de- clare brokerage fees she re- ceived from the deal in her par- liamentary declaration. He also recommended that his findings be passed on to the Tax Com- missioner for further investiga- tion. However, it's the parliament's ethics committee, chaired by Speaker Anġlu Farrugia, that has a final say on reports from the standards czar. Testifying before the commit- tee, the MP insisted sanctions should not be handed down be- fore Tax Commissioner Martin Gaerty concludes his investi- gation into the case. "I didn't know I had to declare gifts," she said. She also insisted she never received gifts to help an- yone politically. Lawyer Edward Gatt also delivered a short statement on Cutajar's behalf, saying it would be premature to hand out the sanction before the tax- man's report is concluded. Opposition MP Therese Co- modini Cachia said she would have expected Rosianne Cuta- jar to come before the com- mittee "and acknowledge her wrongdoing". "Instead of an MP who learnt her lesson, and is willing to improve, we have one who ad- mits to receiving the money, because it was a gift, a birth- day present," she said. "I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, but she did not respect you or your office Mr Speaker." Justice minister Edward Zam- mit Lewis said the committee has set an "important example" on how the House should work. He also insisted Cutajar paid a high political price when she was suspended from the exec- utive, previously occupying the role of parliamentary secre- tary for equality and later also removed from Labour's del- egation to the Council of Eu- rope's parliamentary assembly (PACE). "She shouldn't pay the price of suspension," Zammit Lewis, formerly her lead min- ister, said. Government whip Glenn Bedingfield agreed with the statement. Following a vote, the committee decided to rep- rimand the Labour MP. Before the vote was passed, requests by the Opposition MPs for the reprimand's word- ing to be divulged to the com- mittee, were not met. 'She shouldn't pay the price of suspension'