Darren Debono’s Name Mysteriously Disappears From UN Fuel Smuggling Report
Darren Debono located by a Rai News journalist
Alleged fuel smuggling kingpin Darren Debono is facing serious questions about how his name had disappeared from a UN Security Council report, Rai News has reported.
Rai News questioned why Debono’s name was left out of a recent UN Security Council report into the sanctions regime against Libya, when the same report had named him as one of the main fuel smuggling players in the Mediterranean a year earlier.
Steven Spittaels, the coordinator of the UN Panel of Experts monitoring Libya, could not explain why Debono’s name was left out of the report.
Steven Spittaels, coordinator of the UN Panel of Experts monitoring Libya
“Great question,” he said, when asked by Rai. “I think at the time we were negotiating with him, in the sense that he had promised to deliver some materials to us. I know my colleagues had met him in Madrid.”
The Italian reporter proceeded to ask Spittaels to respond to rumours that Debono’s name had vanished from the report because he enjoys good ties with the Spanish Secret Service.
Spittaels responded with a chuckle: “Who knows? I can’t comment because I don’t work for the Spanish Secret Service. Who knows? As I told you, my colleagues met him.”
Rai News also managed to obtain footage of Debono explaining his fuel operation in Italian to two business partners.
Darren Debono (right) explains his fuel business operation
“Let’s load up over there, let’s load up the Barbosa and the Seamaster,” Debono can be heard saying. “This time, you come, help us load and leave, then we meet again outside of Malta. You go unload, then we reload.”
The Barbosa and Seamaster are ships allegedly used by Debono to pick up fuel from a refinery in Zawiya, Libya, and transfer it to another ship in international waters.
The former Malta international footballer was arrested in Lampedusa last year on charges of fuel smuggling, while his associate Gordon Debono was arrested in Catania. He has since been bailed out and allowed to return to Malta where, according to MaltaToday, he was spotted conversing with fishermen in Marsaxlokk and watching a local football match.
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