PARIS: A Customs officer and a Freeport employee were today remanded in custody after pleading not guilty to stealing 10.5 million cigarettes after allegedly emptying a container at the Malta Freeport.
Roderick Borg, 32 ,of Qormi, and Sebastian Zammit, 60, of Safi, were charged with smuggling the cigarettes which carried an excise duty of €2.2 million.
Standing before Magistrate Josette Demicoli, the men pleaded not guilty to the charges. The court also denied request for bail and remanded the men in custody.
The accused’s assets were also frozen.
On Saturday, the government said that a container that was brought to Malta on July 24 was emptied and its contents transferred onto a truck before the container was returned to its original place, sealed after having been taken out of the Freeport.
“Similar thefts have been going on for years but such cases were rarely uncovered,” the government said in a statement.
The container has been seized by the Police.
