Court orders re-arrest of suspected drug trafficker who absconded to Hungary

A court has revoked the bail granted to a Nigerian man who absconded to Hungary while awaiting trial for masterminding a 2010 cocaine smuggling attempt.

32-year old Stephen Ikeckikwu Egbo had been arrested in late November 2010 during a sting led by the police drug squad, after the seizure of 60 capsules of cocaine that had been discovered in the stomach of a Romanian drug mule on arrival to Malta from Dusseldorf, a week prior.



Using the information garnered from the Romanian's interrogation, the Drugs Squad had carried out a controlled delivery to the Nigerian’s home in San Gwann and arrested him. Egbo had only been in Malta for three months at the time.

He was subsequently charged with conspiracy to import cocaine.

News reports from the time show that his request for bail was initially refused, but as often happens, this was eventually granted under strict conditions. But after Egbo failed to turn up for several court sittings in late December 2015, police found that he had changed his address without informing them and had probably absconded.

He was stopped and arrested in Hungary last March on the strength of a European Arrest Warrant and returned to Malta under police escort.

He took to the witness stand in August, telling magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera that he had been granted bail “3 or 4 years ago” and had been legally employed as a licensed security guard.

But Egbo had been ordered to sign a bail book every day as part of his bail conditions which, he claimed, had made it impossible for him to work. His wife had left him as a result, he said.

The Nigerian had then applied to study at MCAST to find a better job after embarking on a romantic relationship with a Hungarian girl, who promptly fell pregnant and returned to Hungary as he couldn't provide for her.

At the same time his security guard licence was revoked because of the ongoing criminal proceedings, leaving him with no income and homeless.

A further complication presented itself in the form of a refusal by the Hungarian authorities to acknowledge a declaration of paternity that he had sent through a notary, insisting that he make it in person. He had never seen his daughter, he said.


He claimed to have left Malta "because he saw that no progress was being made in his drugs case" and felt that the five-year wait meant that his right to a fair trial had been violated.

In her judgement on the matter, Magistrate Scerri Herrera noted that although the prosecution had declared that it had no further evidence to produce in 2014, it took till March 2016 for the criminal inquiry to be concluded, because of several requests filed by the Attorney General for more sittings to hear evidence.

The court urged the Attorney General to issue the Bill of Indictment without further delay, while pointing out to the accused that he was afforded remedies at law to contest such a situation.

“It is true that the situation that the accused found himself in can be frustrating, but doing what he did certainly did not help the situation but only worsened his own case,” the magistrate said.

Egbo's bail was revoked, the court ordering his re-arrest. His €2,500 deposit was also confiscated, as was his €35,000 personal guarantee.