Man arrested on way to Malta after 13kg of drugs were found in his car

A 55-year-old man from Catania was arrested by the Italian authorities after a surprise inspection on his car prior to boarding the catamaran to Malta allegedly yielded 13 kilograms of cannabis. The drugs, having a street value of €200,000, were found hidden underneath several parts of the car’s body including the bumpers, the seats and even inside a spare tyre, sources said. The Fiat Punto was searched after its driver appeared very nervous, the sources added. Customs officers looked underneath the driver’s seat and saw a number of screws and tools, which made them more suspicious. They started removing parts of the car and found the drugs in 25 bags, the sources said. The cannabis was confiscated and the man, already known to the police in Sicily, was arrested and is expected to appear in court in the coming days, the sources added. A spokesman for the Guardia di Finanza in Ragusa told this newspaper the cannabis was inspected and tested in laboratories and the result revealed an elevated purity that was described as unusual for such types of finds. The sources noted that the Sicilian authorities had stepped up their efforts to curb drug trafficking and were carrying out more...