Retired judge Geoffrey Valenzia has requested a short extension for his inquiry into the theft of drugs from the AFM Safi barracks, The Malta Independent is informed.
The inquiry, which was supposed to be concluded on Friday, will instead be concluded in a matter of days following the extension request.
The Office of the Prime Minister at the end of February had published the Terms of Reference for an Administrative Inquiry to establish the facts and circumstances that led to the theft of cannabis resin stored at the Headquarters of the Armed Forces of Malta in Ħal Safi, during the night of February 22 to 23, 2025.
The inquiry is to establish the facts, processes, procedures, laws and systems that led to the court evidence coming under the custody of the AFM. It will also examine, one this evidence came into the AFM’s custody, if all the security measures that had to be taken in this case were taken. The inquiry will also investigate and establish if there was a relation between the processes, procedures and decisions taken from all government departments or Corps established by law relative to this case and the theft of the evidence. The inquiry is also to draw conclusions and put forward necessary recommendations, both regulatory and administrative.
It was due to be published on 14 March.
Sean Attard, from Żebbuġ, Carlos Pace from Marsa, Yousef Essesi from St Paul’s Bay, Cleaven Pace, from Marsa, Liam Stewart, from Pieta and Christa Gauci have pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against them in court proceedings tied to the theft.
A court was recently told that the amount of drugs stolen from the AFM compound in Safi last month was 132kilogrammes, not 226kg, as originally thought.