Romanian police took three Maltese hunters in for questioning earlier this week but let them go after failing to establish that a crime was committed *.

The hunters, aged 24, 49 and 52, were stopped at a police roadblock last Tuesday after hunting close to the commune of Orlești and were told to drive down towards a police station. Police found four shot birds in their van, two of which were hunt-able species but which weren’t included in their hunting permit and two which are still being investigated.

They also found them in possession of 19 birds but confirmed these were legally hunted, while their hunting and firearms permits were deemed legal too.

A van and a boat they used in their hunting expedition have been confiscated by the police pending the conclusion of a report against the three men.

Two of the hunters have since returned to Malta while the third one has remained in Romania, where he is based.

A friend of one of the three men told Lovin Malta that the Romanian police had confirmed they were called in by a local competitor in the hunting business, whose main target market is also Maltese hunters.

*A previous version of the article incorrectly stated that the three men had been arrested