No closure for PN MPs who received cocaine by post in attempted frame-up

More than two years have passed since four Nationalist Party MPs received envelopes by post containing a suspicious white powder in an attempted frame-up that remains the subject of a police investigation

8 April 2021, 2:52pm
by Kurt Sansone

2 min read

(Left to right) Karol Aquilina, Simon Busuttil, David Casa and Jason Azzopardi received envelopes containing a white substance in February 2019 in what they describe as an attempted frame-up

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It has been more than two years since four Nationalist Party MPs received envelopes by post containing a white powder believed to be cocaine.

Simon Busuttil, Jason Azzopardi, Karol Aquilina and MEP David Casa had reported the matter to the police but two years on they are still waiting to know the truth.

The MPs believe the co-ordinated effort was an attempt to frame them up for speaking out against the Labour government’s corruption.

They say that through unofficial sources they got to know that the white substance contained cocaine.

...we are publicly drawing everyone’s attention, particularly the country’s institutions, on the danger we are in

In a joint statement released on Thursday, the four officials said they had cooperated with the police and testified in a magisterial inquiry.

“More than two years have passed and we have heard absolutely nothing from the authorities about this serious case… until now the authorities have not informed us on the state of investigations, the conclusions reached and what action will be taken against who tried to harm us,” the officials said.

The incidents had occurred in February and March 2019, a few months after a Times of Malta/Reuters investigation revealed that Yorgen Fenech was the owner of Dubai company 17 Black.

Fenech was eventually charged with masterminding the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Azzopardi's envelope was sent to PN headquarters and had a mailing address on it from Germany. Aquilina received his at his office and was mailed from Canada.

The PN functionaries said the “vile attack” was a confirmation of how their opposition to corruption had cut close to the bone.

“We understand that there are people in Malta with the available means, the interest and intention to pay us back by trying to hurt us and our dearest. This is why we are publicly drawing everyone’s attention, particularly the country’s institutions, on the danger we are in. We expect the country’s institutions not to wait for one of us to be attacked to take action,” they said.

Aquilina, Azzopardi, Busuttil and Casa pledged to continue their fight against corruption, demanding that truth and justice prevail.

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Kurt Sansone is Executive Editor of MaltaToday. He was formerly deputy editor of MaltaTod...