Seven people were arrested in two separate police investigations into suspected drug trafficking in Marsa and St Julian’s, with officers seizing packets of suspected synthetic drugs, cash, vehicles and mobile phones.
The larger operation was centred on a property in Triq il-Ġerrejja, Marsa, and a drinking establishment in the same locality. Police said surveillance led to the arrest of six people: five men aged between 16 and 39, and a 32-year-old woman.
Police said searches in that case uncovered about 165 packets of suspected synthetic drugs believed to have been prepared for sale, as well as €5,600 in cash. Two vehicles allegedly used in the activity were also seized.
A separate investigation in St Julian’s ended with the arrest of a 39-year-old man after reports of suspected trafficking in the Ta’ Giorni area and surrounding streets. Police entered a residence in Triq Sir Joseph Carbone with an arrest warrant and said they found about 100 grammes of suspected synthetic cannabis divided into small packets, along with a small quantity of suspected heroin and several mobile phones.
Four of the seven people arrested are expected to be arraigned before Magistrate Lara Lanfranco.
The facts released so far are operational: surveillance, searches, seizures, arrests. What remains unstated is the part that matters in court — who is being charged with what, and whether the alleged trafficking was street-level dealing from multiple points or part of a more organised chain. Police have said only that both investigations remain ongoing.
That caution matters. Seized substances are still described as suspected drugs, and the claims about intended sale and the use of vehicles remain police allegations unless tested in court. But the pattern is clear enough: two local investigations, one of them involving a minor, and both focused on synthetic substances already packaged in a form police say was ready for distribution.
Marcus Azzopardi 
Alex de Valletta 
Isla Camilleri 
Dua Mifsud