Sniffer dog Sparky’s persistence yields 10kg in cannabis

It was the persistence of the new sniffer dog Sparky that led customs officials to discover 10kg of cannabis that were stashed in hidden compartments of a vehicle that had just come to Malta viaa the catamaran service.

The Customs Department said that during routine checks by its canine unit, Sparky flagged the suspect vehicle. However, the sniffer dog persisted in flagging the vehicle even after an initial search by officials yielded no visible results.

At that stage the car was taken to the police garage where the drugs were found stored in two separate well-hidden compartments, the customs department said.

Cannabis stored in the car's hidden compartments

The search yielded 10kg of cannabis with an estimated street value of approximately €20,000.

Duty Magistrate Joe Mifsud is conducting an inquiry into the latest drug bust. Police investigations are ongoing and it is understood that arrests have been made.

This is the second substantial narcotic seizure this week, with 44 kilograms of cocaine worth €4.5 million seized by customs officials at the Freeport.

10 kg of cannabis were seized