Maltese investigators believe the men who supplied the car bomb that assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia may have another explosive hidden on the island. 

According to a report by the UK’s Sunday Times, there exist real concerns that there could be another ready-to-use bomb in Malta. 

The Times reports that the Agius brothers and Vella purchased three bombs from Albania in December 2016 or January 2017. It is believed that one bomb was used on Romeo Bone, who survived a car bomb a few months before Daphne, and on the murdered journalist. 

The bomb, self-confessed hitman Vince Muscat said, was made of stainless steel, sophisticated, and was clearly foreign made. It had a thick metal casing and also had a slot for a SIM card.

Either Agius or Vella told the hitmen that the bomb contained some 500g of explosive jelly. On their suggestion, the men attached a bottle filled with petrol to make the impact more devastating.

In June 2021, police discovered a stockpile of weapons, including automatic assault rifles and bomb detonators, hidden in the sea by Miġra Ferħa in Rabat.

Sources at the time told Lovin Malta that investigators believed that the stash belonged to the infamous Maksar brothers, Adrian and Robert Agius, and Jamie Vella. 

Robert Agius and Vella have been charged with supplying the bomb that killed Daphne, while Adrian Agius is believed to have been involved. It is believed they were tipped off before their arrest and went to dump the weapons.

Police have also identified three visits Vella made to Albania, which they believe were for meetings with international criminal organisations.

Further details are given on the Agius’ smuggling operations, which covers drugs, arms, and contraband cigarettes. Police have reportedly identified shipments from Peru to the Netherlands, deals with Dutch narco-traffickers and Italian Mafia, and a contraband cigarette operation from Libya to the UK.

The Maksar brothers are understood to be two of the most prominent members of Malta’s criminal underworld with interests in a number of criminal activities, both in Malta and abroad.

A collaborative report from The Times of Malta and Malta Today revealed that the Agius’ criminal web extends to a series of violent murders between gang members opening up a vacuum for the Agius brothers to become the major players in the smuggling world with ties to Italian, Libyan, Romanian and Albanian organised crime groups.

The brothers are sons of Raymond Agius ‘tal-Maksar’, who is also believed to have operated as a contraband cigarette smuggler.

Raymond Agius was murdered in 2008, shot twice in the head at Butterfly Bar in Birkirkara, in what police believe was a targeted hit from a rival. No one was ever charged with the murder. Romeo Bone is believed to have been involved and was even interrogated by police. 

Following a series of gangland murders between 2011 and 2015, the Agius brothers climbed all the way to the top of the illegal smuggling industry. 

Between 2011 and 2017, Malta was blighted by a series of car bombs that either maimed or murdered 20 people. Tal-Maksar are believed to be linked to some. 

What do you think of the reveal?