Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1546283
YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT SUNDAY 23 AUGUST 2026 • ISSUE 1399 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY maltatoday €2.20 Social justice Date check Christopher Nolan's Ogygia and Gozo's Calypso Cave Labour MP Clint Azzopardi Flores talks about the economy, quality of life and social justice The legal pitfalls of a dating group, where women seek advice INTERVIEW MT2 PAGES 2-3 PAGES 10-11 Malta's Odyssey Yorgen Fenech tells judge 'Keith Schembri was the mastermind' On the cocaine trail COCAINE has long shed its label of being the rich peo- ple's drug. Its proliferation has transcended the boundaries of parties attended by profes- sionals, finding its way into baptism parties, weddings, traditional festa marches and the vast entertainment sector. The demand is big. But how does cocaine reach Malta's shores? MaltaToday spoke to a sen- ior police officer who was in- volved in drug investigations to understand the intricacies of the cocaine trail from the jungles of South America, where it is produced, to the container terminal at Malta Freeport or international wa- ters off Malta's coast. The in- depth report also looks at the trail connecting Malta to Sici- ly and explores the economics behind this trade. KARL AZZOPARDI kazzopardi@mediatoday.com.mt From South America to Malta's shores, cocaine follows a complex supply chain. MaltaToday traces the route with a senior police officer, exploring the links to Sicily and the economics behind the trade Cocaine found being smuggled in a car (Photo: Malta Police Force) SEE REPORT ON PAGES 7 TO 9 KAYLYN LINWOOD Klinwood@mediatoday.com.mt Yorgen Fenech insisted for- mer OPM Chief of Staff Keith Schembri was the true mastermind behind the mur- der of Daphne Caruana Gali- zia, when testi- fying on Satur- day. T h e sitting reached its climax when Judge Edwina Grima intervened to ask Fenech why state witness and middleman Melvin Theuma carried such an immense sense of power throughout the murder plot. "He had access," Fenech re- plied. "Theuma knows who the mastermind is—he will need to get it off his chest one day or another." When the judge pressed Fenech directly to iden- tify, who he believed was responsible for the murder, Fenech stated unequivocal- ly: "Keith Schembri is the mastermind." The prosecution began its cross-ex- amination of Fenech on Sat- urday morning, with prosecutor Godwin Cini conducting a meticulous dis- section of the accused's state- ments and mes- sages extracted from his devices. CONTINUES PAGE 12