Libyan facing trial over 20 kgs cannabis flees Malta soon after being granted bail

Nabeil Ibrahim Saleh, 39 of St. Paul's Bay has allegedly absconded from Malta just days after being released on bail for having spent more than 22 months under preventative custody at Corradino Prisons.

Sister paper 'Illum' reports today that Saleh was facing the prospect of life imprisonment for international conspiracy to import and traffic 20 kilos of cannabis.

He was arrested in the summer of 2010 in a joint operation by the Police and the Armed Forces who intercepted a Maltese-owned speedboat off Xemxija Bay which was laden with the drug.

Saleh - who owned a small shop in the town of Zawya on the outskirts of Tripoli, but also rented an apartment in Bugibba - was arrested on board the speedboat which was monitored throughout the operation as it approached Malta.

News of his absconding was revealed this week in court before Magistrate Miriam Hayman, who was informed that a nation-wide hunt for him had been launched, while Interpol had also been informed and a Red Notice on him was issued.

Police believe that Saleh may have found a way to slip out of the country and flee to Libya. Authorities in the North African country have also been informed, while Interpol offices in Morocco have also been contacted to seek information.

Saleh's case is similar to the absconding of another Libyan national in August of 1999.

Hashim Yousaf Azzabi had managed to escape police custody and eventually from Malta. He was facing charges over the importation of 17 kilos cannabis by air.

Years later, police had learnt that Azzabi had been murdered in Rome.