Fedex cannabis delivery lands two men in court
FedEx Cannabis Delivery Lands Two Men in Court—And Sends Shockwaves Through Malta’s Budding Green Scene
By Hot Malta Staff
Valletta – When a nondescript FedEx van rolled out of Malta International Airport last month, customs officers thought it was carrying the usual haul of electronics and souvenirs. Instead, they uncovered 17 vacuum-sealed bricks of high-grade cannabis tucked between layers of bubble-wrap—enough green to keep Sliema’s weekend terraces buzzing well past Carnival. Two local men, a 29-year-old courier from Żabbar and a 34-year-old “logistics consultant” from St Julian’s, were arraigned on Thursday before Magistrate Marse-Ann Farrugia on charges of aggravated drug importation and money laundering. Both pleaded not guilty but were denied bail amid fears they might tamper with evidence spread across WhatsApp groups from Valletta to Gozo.
The bust is the largest cannabis seizure linked to a global courier company in Maltese history, and it lands like a thunderclap just as the island is grappling with its own split personality on weed. On one hand, Malta became the first EU country to legalise limited home cultivation and non-profit cannabis clubs in 2021; on the other, commercial trafficking still carries sentences that can stretch to lifetime imprisonment. The irony isn’t lost on anyone sipping a cold Cisk at a Birgu bar: you can legally grow two plants on your balcony, but FedEx-ing a forest will still land you in the dock.
Inside the packed courtroom, a handful of activists from Releaf Malta—the NGO that championed the 2021 reform—held small hemp-leaf flags, more in solidarity with the principle than the defendants. “We fought for the right to use, not to smuggle,” whispered Andre Callus, the group’s co-founder. “Cases like this show why regulated supply chains matter. Street dealers and courier mules thrive in the grey zones the law forgot to colour in.”
Community impact is already rippling beyond the courthouse steps. In Gżira, where the courier lives, neighbours joke that their Amazon orders now arrive with an extra customs sticker “just in case.” Parents picking up kids from San Ġwann primary schools trade half-serious warnings about accepting mystery packages. Meanwhile, the Malta Chamber of SMEs fears the island’s reputation as a logistics hub could take a hit. “We process 1.2 million courier parcels a year,” said chamber president Marisa Xuereb. “One rotten apple shouldn’t spoil the barrel, but global headlines reading ‘Malta: Cannabis Express Route’ don’t help.”
Culturally, the case taps into a deeper Maltese tug-of-war between old-school conservatism and the younger crowd’s cosmopolitan chill. In the shadow of baroque churches, TikTok clips of teens rolling legal joints compete for views with Sunday sermons warning of the devil’s lettuce. The FedEx fiasco is already meme gold: photoshopped vans with “WeedEx” logos circulate faster than festa fireworks, and a pop-up T-shirt stall in Strait Street is selling tops that read “Neither snow nor rain nor THC shall stop us.”
For the prosecution, the matter is straightforward. Inspector Sarah Zerafa told the court the pair used crypto payments and a chain of burner phones, evidence that the operation was “commercial, not compassionate.” Defence lawyer Giannella de Marco countered that the men were “small cogs” and argued the cannabis was destined for Malta’s non-profit clubs—an assertion the magistrate branded “creative but unconvincing” while denying bail.
As the gavel fell, the courtroom emptied into the honey-coloured afternoon, past nannas selling pastizzi and tourists hunting Game of Thrones sites. Whether Malta’s cannabis experiment will mature into a fully regulated market or keep sprouting courtroom dramas like this one remains an open question. What’s certain is that the next time a courier truck rumbles down the coast road, more than a few Maltese eyes will linger on the FedEx logo—and wonder what’s really inside.
