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The Story Of How A Maltese Man Tried To Bring In Explosives And Toxic Chemicals Into The Country

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A Maltese man is believed to have sought lethal substances and C4 explosives to take out a target in the country, shocking and intimate details revealed by Superintendent George Cremona in court show.

Jomic Calleja, a bitcoin auto-trader, was first charged with attempting to import explosives on 10th March. He had pleaded not guilty. Despite COVID-19 measures, police from the anti-terrorism unit were still able to give testimony on the shocking case.

The target, police evidence suggests, was a man who weighed between 55kg and 65kg and was between 165cm and 175cm tall. He is yet to be identified.

Today in court, Cremona explained how a conversation between a buyer and seller over the illicit transaction of fatal chemicals on the dark web kicked off on 1st June 2019.

It mostly focused on how substances, like the dangerous polonium 210, would be shipped into Malta.

Polonium 210, the supplier explained, is a lethal substance with radioactive properties. It does not harm the skin but is fatal once it enters the system. The buyer was recommended to put it in the target’s food and wait two weeks. It is notorious for being the chemical used to kill Russian defector Litvinenko in the UK in 2016.

The source of where they were getting the product was never revealed. However, the supplier said it was coming from somewhere outside of the EU. 

The substances would be hidden inside Bluetooth speakers, with the supplier claiming that they would not show up on radiation scanners.

The transaction was settled through bitcoin, something which Calleja has an interest in. However, the buyer eventually asked for some explosive just in case the polonium did not work.

A C4 explosive, the seller said, would cost  $750 plus $100 for shipping. The seller could also hand over Glocks, suppressors, and other explosives. Each component of the explosive, the supplier explained, would be hidden in different sections of the speaker.

The packet was asked to be sent to a contact of the buyer; a certain Roger Tabone, who heads a UK-based company. The buyer explained this was so it would be harder to link the attack to him.

On 16th June 2019, police were alerted by foreign authorities that an unknown individual was attempting to purchase polonium 210 and ricin.

On 16th August, the suppler said he would send the package in a week.

Two days later, Maltese police officers flew to America after receiving information that the Luke Airforce Base had intercepted a suspicious package. In the box, officers found a C4 explosive device along with a FedEx tracking number. 

It is unclear why the polonium was never sent.

Officers then proceeded with a controlled delivery and replaced a tracker on the device with one of their own.

By 27th August, they identified that the package had reached Express Trailers in Ħal Qormi.

That same day, officers trailed Calleja and his partner to McDonald’s Birkirkara. The pair were arrested following a search which also uncovered 320 grams of cannabis.

Their mobiles and other electronic devices were taken for examination in the US.

The police also arrested Matthew Borg, believing him to be Calleja’s link inside Express Trailers. Borg has confirmed the claims, also saying that the package was destined for Roger Tabone.

Calleja was released from arrest on 29th August. That same day, the buyer messaged the supplier telling him that the “pigs discovered the products”.

However, the seller insisted that the buyer was simply trying to get out of paying. The evidence so far stops there.

Calleja would be charged with related offences on 10th March.

Police investigations are still underway, with experts still examining his electronic devices.

Malta has its own sketchy past with bombs. The assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was the last in a long line of car bombs in Malta. There have been close to 20 car bombs over the last ten years.

The case continues in May. Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech is presiding. Benjamin Valenzia is representing Calleja.

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Julian is the former editor of Lovin Malta and has a particular interest in politics, the environment, social issues, and human interest stories.

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