Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/890548
maltatoday SUNDAY 22 OCTOBER 2017 4 News MATTHEW VELLA ARRESTS by Italian police of two Maltese men suspected of involvement in a €30 million diesel smuggling operation, have fuelled the speculation on the ex- tent of organised crime in Malta and its Italian connections. The Italian press was the first to lead with the arrest of for- mer Malta international Darren Debono in Lampedusa, accused by prosecutors in Catania of hav- ing organised the sea transport of fuel oil smuggled from Libya. Another Maltese, Gordon Debono was arrested in Cata- nia on Friday. A month ear- lier, 'smuggling king' Fahmi Bin Khalifa was arrested in Tripoli by the Rada militia. Another wanted man is the mafia associ- ated Nicola Orazio Romeo, who at one point had companies reg- istered at the same San Gwann address where another Debono- Khalifa company, ADJ Trading, was registered. That company is now in dissolution. According to interceptions by the Italian police, the syndicate would use the operations of a company, Maxcom Bunker, to sell cheap fuel oil at competitive prices outside Italy. "They come to meet us at the border… that way we are safer, understand?" Debono was heard saying in one of the intercep- tions. He was recalling how a militia had escorted him and Orazio Romeo to the Tunisian border to meet Ben Khalifa. "We are the most organised in Libya," he was heard saying according to the interception. Stories of fuel smuggling from Libya are not new, but it was freelance journalist Ann Marlowe whose piece in the Asia Times, and later also journalists for the Wall Street Journal, who documented the ship-to-ship transport of the smuggled oil. Then a United Nations experts report confirmed the movements of ships such as the Basbosa Star and Bonu 5, managed by the ADJ Trading company that included both Debono and Bin Khalifa as shareholders. Satellite tracking enabled the ships being located side by side while the fuel oil was being on-boarded from one ves- sel to the other. The Basbosa Star was one ves- sel UN investigators and western security officials focused on. In January 2015, the ship loaded its 1,621-ton capacity hold with liquids off the coast of Libya and headed for Malta. Five times over the following two months, the tanker pumped some of its cargo into the hold of another fuel vessel, which made deliver- ies to a fuel-tank depot in Malta, according to the officials and Windward data company. The data company can deter- mine when a vessel is loaded or unloaded using radio signals sent by vessels detailing how low they are sitting in the water. Security officials had told the Wall Street Journal that they suspected the Basbosa Star was smuggling motor fuel to Europe from Libya. The centre of the il- legal trade is in the western port of Zuwara, from where smug- gling king Fahmi Bin Khalifa was based. And it was with Darren Debono, a restaurant owner, that he formed a company that has since been dissolved, Debono's lawyers recently told MaltaTo- day. They have also denied ever owning the Basbosa Star. But Equasis data states that ADJ Swordfish of San Gwann was its ship manager and beneficial owner. With Malta still reeling from the car bomb murder of journal- ist Daphne Caruana Galizia, it is as yet unclear as to whether the car bomb used in her execution was similar to those used in the murder of other men related to the fishing industry – an indus- try long believed to be on the sidelines of the fuel smuggling trade. In 2016, fisherman Martin Cachia was killed in a car bomb in Marsaskala. Cachia, 56, was registered as a fisherman and had pending charges for drug trafficking, human smuggling and contraband cigarettes, and was part of a probe into the smuggling of fuel from Libya. In 2014, Marsaxlokk restaura- teur Darren Degabriele, 35, also died in an explosion set off in his vehicle by a device suspected to have been a home-made bomb. He was the owner of a fishing trawler. In January 2017, Libya called for more collaboration from the Maltese authorities to stop the "smuggling of Libyan fuels by Maltese mafia", which according to Attorney General Sadiq Al- Sour was happening every day. Announcing a wide-ranging probe to stop the rampant smug- gling of refined fuel products, particularly petrol and diesel, from Libyan ports, the office of the Libyan Attorney General said it had issued arrest warrants against a number of executives in the Libyan oil industry suspected of collaborating in fuel smug- gling. Sadiq Al-Sour pointed an accu- satory finger at Malta, saying it was a known secret Maltese busi- nessmen were heavily involved in the smuggling. "Maltese and Ital- ian mafias are sending oil vessels on a daily basis to receive the fuel smuggled from Libya. We arrest- ed some of those smugglers, and they were from Italy, Malta and the Ukraine," he said. Foreign Minister George Vella had back in January said that he did not know of the matter and referred it to the police. "When- ever we have reports we always pass the information to the po- lice. That's all we can do." MALTATODAY is today join- ing other local media houses in a campaign highlighting the deter- mination of all those invested in the industry to not be cowed into submission by the brutal assassina- tion of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia on Monday. The message 'The pen conquers fear' will be displayed on all of to- day's print, TV and electronic me- dia. This comes days after Malta's journalists sent a strong message of defiance during a march in Valletta last Thursday, when they vowed to not let fear dictate their actions. March for justice A national march of solidarity is also being held this afternoon in Valletta by the Civil Society Net- work. The demonstration, 'Gustizzja', was organised to call for justice in the wake of the bomb attack that left Caruana Galizia dead. The march will kick off from City Gate at 4pm. The organisers have insisted that the event is non-po- litical and have stressed that any politicians attending the demon- stration are not to be given promi- nence and will not be allowed to address the crowd. The Nationalist and Labour par- ties have both confirmed they will be attending the demonstration. PN leader Adrian Delia has re- peatedly urged the Prime Minister to take political responsibility for the situation. The Labour Party has latched on to the organisers' appeal to not turn the event into a partisan or political activity. "This spirit must guide us as a nation in the face of last Monday's barbaric act, an act to which we must answer as a united nation," the party said. Alternativa Demokratika will also be present. Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo said that this barbaric act should unite citizens in favour of free speech and called on the au- thorities to take immediate action to strengthen the nation. Human rights NGO Aditus also said it will join the march. "Mon- day's abominable act was not com- mitted in a social or political vac- uum but as a result of the culture of hatred, division, bigotry and op- portunism that successive Maltese governments and Parliaments have fuelled and thrived on," Aditus di- rector Neil Falzon said. The country's largest work- ers' unions, the General Workers' Union and the Union Haddiema Maghqudin, will also be represent- ed at the demonstration. "In such a time, the country should unite and work in favour of national unity and freedom of speech," the GWU said in a state- ment. The National Youth Council also condemned the attack and said that "the authorities concerned should strive to collaborate as much as possible to bring those re- sponsible to justice". They invited all Maltese and Gozitan youths to join the demonstration. Student organisation SDM urged all students to attend, and even in- vited the general public to make use of the transport being organ- ized by KSU, which will leave uni- versity at 3pm. London march for justice A march for justice is also being held in London today, kicking off at the same time as the demonstra- tion in Valletta. The silent protest march will leave Westminster at 3pm (Lon- don time) and end in front of the Maltese High Commission in May- fair. As with the Maltese activity, the event was advertised online fea- turing only a black ribbon with the tagline "Your pen has been si- lenced but your voice will live on". Libyans long warned of 'Maltese mafia' smuggling fuel 'The Pen Conquers Fear' – Media houses unite THE PEN CONQUERS FEAR Libya's attorney general, Sadiq Al-Sour: It is known that Maltese businessmen are heavily involved in smuggling