Jomic Calleja Maatouk convicted of dark web explosives purchase goes missing

A man who tried to import military grade C-4 explosives, which he had bought on the dark web, into Malta has gone missing.

The Times of Malta reported on Tuesday, that Jomic Calleja Maatouk, 36, “failed to sign a bail book for a number of days and is now considered a wanted man.”

Calleja Maatouk’s partner has also been reported missing.

Law enforcement authorities are currently suspecting that the pair in question may have fled the country, according to the Times. 

It remains uncertain whether local officials have taken steps to notify Interpol regarding the missing individuals or initiated the process of issuing a European Arrest Warrant for the convicted man.

Calleja Maatouk, who was convicted and subsequently sentenced to five years in prison this July, was found guilty by a magistrate on charges encompassing the importation of explosives, document forgery, utilization of forged documentation, violation of prior bail conditions, and relapse into criminal activities.

During the court proceedings, evidence emerged indicating that Calleja Maatouk had endeavored to procure lethal quantities of toxic substances including Polonium-210, radioactive substance Ricin, deadly drug Fentanyl, and C-4 explosive via a darkweb marketplace. 

Although C-4 explosive was dispatched to an address within the UK, it was intercepted by US law enforcement and substituted with a counterfeit package, which ultimately found its way to Calleja Maatouk in Malta.

Upon delivering the sentence, Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech described Calleja Maatouk as "a potential instrument of mass harm."

READ MORE: The Polonium plot: how Jomic Calleja trawled dark web for explosives and radioactive poison

Given that Calleja Maatouk's case was under the jurisdiction of a magistrate's court, he was granted his freedom upon lodging an appeal against the conviction, as he had previously been out on bail before the conviction was handed down.

He has an extensive history of criminal activities, coupled with a track record of evading legal authorities. 

Back in 2015, at the age of 29, Calleja Maatouk was apprehended on a train bound for Italy while in Sicily. He was en route from Malta, where he faced legal proceedings related to the trafficking of cannabis.