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local
news
Agius trial put off once again
Cigarette
smuggling profits said used to fund Ulster terror groups
Extradition proceedings against Ronnie Agius have been postponed
until the necessary approval from the Justice Minister is received,
which could take place at any time within the next 15 days.
Mr Agius is thought to be a member of an organised crime gang comprising
Maltese, British, Irish and Swiss citizens, headed by Swiss fugitive
Angelo Bernasconi.
The organisation of which Mr Agius is said to be a member is alleged
to have used the container port at Gioia Tauro in Calabria, Southern
Italy, as a point of transit for large shipments of smuggled cigarettes
bound for the rest of Europe.
Detectives involved in the case have suggested that part of the
profits from the cigarette smuggling racket may have been used to
fund Ulster terror groups.
Over the course of the inquiry, Italian Finance Police officers
had seized 25 tonnes of cigarettes stored in a number of containers
in the port of Gioia Tauro in January of this year.
Mr Agius' arrest follows the arrest in Athens two weeks ago of John
Sullivan, another Maltese citizen - on the basis of the same charges.
Mr Aguis' apprehension follows hot on the heels of MaltaToday's
revelation that several Maltese have been investigated for high
yield money laundering activities.
MaltaToday had reported that several high profile Maltese were being
investigated for very serious money laundering linked to drugs and
cigarette smuggling in Northern Ireland.
The money is linked to the indirect support of the Irish Republican
Army terrorist organisation.
In the first week of December, ten Maltese were called to testify
behind closed doors before different magistrates.
The Maltese courts were reacting to court request by the Northern
Ireland and Rotterdam courts.
The investigations focused on the laundering of millions of pounds
from drug trafficking and smuggled cigarettes. Worse still, it was
reported that the same Maltese were involved in the delivery of
arms to the IRA.
The current detention measure for Ronnie Agius was issued in January
in the context of an investigation conducted by Public Prosecutor,
Elio Costa, of Palmi, Southern Italy.
A total of 11 preventive detention warrants were issued by the Palmi
examining magistrate, in compliance with a request lodged by Prosecutor
Costa.
One of the people under investigation in the probe, Martin James
Dalj, has reportedly been killed in Ireland recently. |
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