Italians request extradition of John Spiteri, Maltese drug trafficker for Italian organisation

Police will arraign a major Maltese player in an Italian cocaine trafficking ring, on request by Italian authorities, wanted for extradition.

John Spiteri, 56, known as Gianni, was arrested on Friday in Malta on the strength of a European Arrest Warrant issued by the Italian police.

He will be arraigned on Saturday afternoon at 12:30pm, where a court will hear requests by the prosecution to extradite Spiteri to Italy to face charges of conspiracy and racketeering.

In 2021, Spiteri was among a group of 16 people arrested in Italy as part of a police sting codenamed ‘Operation La Vallette’, to rout out a criminal organisation moving drugs from Albania to the Italian south, Sicily and Malta.

Spiteri handled the Maltese end of the operation.  

A total of 430kg in cannabis, cannabis resin and cocaine were seized in the Italian bust, led by some 100 officers from Italian finance police andthe serious crimes unit.

Fabian Catania, 55, was another Maltese associate named in the Italian court documents but not arrested in Operation La Vallette. He is facing drug trafficking charges from 2018.

Italian prosecutors said Spiteri and Italian associate Rosario Amico shipped drugs from Puglia to Malta between 2018 and 2019, with Catania acting as a courier driving a Malta-registered Isuzu.

Checks with Maltese ferry company Virtu Ferries established that Catania was travelling to Malta multiple times a year, as was an associate of his, Albanian national Eriseld Hoxhaj, known as Riku. 

Amico’s son, Ray, was delegated by his father to collect payment for drug shipments and maintain contact with Spiteri.

Wiretaps of Amico and Spiteri have them discussing prices of shipments and new methods of delivery.

In one intercepted conversation, two of Amico’s associates are heard discussing how they feared Spiteri wanted them dead. “Surely Gianni [Spiteri] paid them to kill me... he wanted to kill me!”