Suspended sentences and a €220k fine each for pair caught smuggling contraband cigarettes

Piero di Bartolo and Trafford Vella were each handed a two-year prison sentence, suspended for four years, and each fined €221,072 after being found guilty of attempting to smuggle cigarettes into Malta.

Piero di Bartolo was previously acquitted in a jury trial related to the killing of Brian Rosso in 2005.

The incident happened on 19 August 2015, when the Armed Forces of Malta alerted the police that they had intercepted a boat named “Christian II” near Hurd Bank, a few miles off Birżebbuġa. The vessel was escorted to the Grand Harbour, where a search uncovered 42 boxes of cigarettes. Both men on board were arrested.

During questioning, di Bartolo claimed he was out fishing and came across boxes floating in the sea, which he began to collect. Vella gave a similar explanation, saying he thought the boxes were fishing gear.

However, Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech did not believe their version of events. She pointed out that if the boxes had just been pulled from the sea, they would have all been wet. Instead, only the ones exposed on deck were damp which suggested that the boxes were already on board.

Thus, the court found them guilty of attempting to import contraband cigarettes. The pair were sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for four years, and were both fined €221,072, with €73,690 of that amount to be paid as a civil debt to the Commissioner for Revenue.