€11,600 seized out of €17,000 cash undeclared on flight to Istanbul

A Libyan man, caught carrying over €17,000 in cash by customs officials at the Malta International Airport, ended up forfeiting close to €12,000 for breaching cash control regulations.

Abdullatif Mohammed had been about to catch a flight to Istanbul on Wednesday evening, when he was approached by customs officials from the money-laundering unit, who were assigned to the Non-Schengen section of the airport’s departure lounge.

Although Abdullatif claimed to only be carrying €6000 and US$7,000, a subsequent search yielded a total of €17,286 - €7,286 in excess of the maximum amount of cash one can carry.

The man pleaded guilty to breaching the cash control regulations and reaffirmed his a admission after being given time to reconsider.

In view of the guilty plea, magistrate Josette Demicoli ordered the confiscation of the excess cash, and imposed the statutory 25% fine on the total sum: €4322, which meant that €11,608 would be seized from the man.

Lawyer Mario Mifsud was defence counsel.