Sliema Drug Bust: Synthetic Cannabis, Heroin & Cocaine Seized in Luxury Flat Raid

**Synthetic Highs, Real Consequences: Sliema Bust Shines Light on Malta’s Evolving Drug Underworld**

A 34-year-old Mellieħa man is behind bars this weekend after police seized synthetic cannabis, heroin and cocaine from a luxury Sliema apartment, in the latest reminder that Malta’s party playground reputation is increasingly laced with far harder chemicals than the traditional weekend joint.

Officers from the Drug Squad swooped on the seafront flat at 5 a.m. on Thursday following a two-week surveillance operation triggered by tip-offs from condominium residents who complained of “strangers knocking at all hours” and a chemical sweet smell “like burnt marshmallows” drifting through the corridors. Inside, investigators found 1.2 kg of synthetic cannabinoids shipped in foil pouches labelled “herbal incense”, 180 g of high-purity cocaine stamped with the Ferrari logo, and 45 g of heroin divided into €50 street wraps. Cash totalling €28,400, an electronic money-counting machine and two Rolexes were also impounded; the suspect, unemployed on paper but driving a 2023 Range Rover, was refused bail and is being held at Corradino Correctional Facility.

Magistrate Astrid May Grima has opened a compilation of evidence, with the first sitting scheduled for 18 June. If convicted of aggravated trafficking, the man faces 10–20 years behind bars and a fine that could reach €2.3 million—numbers that dwarf the €50 deals he allegedly supplied to weekend revellers in Paceville and St Julian’s.

Synthetic cannabis—often marketed as “Spice” or “K2”—is still a novelty on the Maltese market, but health professionals warn it is gaining traction among 16- to 25-year-olds who believe the legal-looking packaging offers a safer buzz. “Users think it’s just fake weed,” explains Dr Marilyn Agius, consultant at Mount Carmel Hospital’s detox unit. “In reality, the active compounds are 100 times more potent than natural THC and can trigger acute psychosis after a single joint.” Emergency-room data obtained by this newsroom show a 60 % spike in synthetic-cannabis-related admissions since January, with three cases requiring intensive care last month alone.

The bust also exposes the widening footprint of heroin, a drug many Maltese assumed had faded after the turbulent 1990s. “We’re seeing a quiet comeback,” says Sgt. Paul Vella, who heads the police Drugs & Vice Squad. “Dealers cut the powder with fentanyl analogues smuggled from Eastern Europe, making it cheaper and deadlier.” Cocaine, meanwhile, remains the star attraction for finance-sector employees and tourists flush with crypto gains. Customs officials at Malta International Airport seized a record 42 kg of cocaine in the first quarter of 2024, most of it hidden inside pasta-makers and souvenir cannoli tins flown in from São Paulo.

Community leaders fear the convergence of synthetic and classical narcotics is eroding the family-friendly image Malta markets to cruise-ship operators and Netflix producers. “We’ve spent decades building Valletta’s brand as a Renaissance gem,” says Sliema mayor John Pillow. “If parents start associating our seafront with Spice psychosis, they’ll take their Airbnb euros to Lisbon instead.” Local cafés report a 15 % drop in late-morning trade as office workers detour away from the tower blocks where Thursday’s raid occurred.

Yet the crackdown has also sparked solidarity. By Friday evening, residents had taped hand-written notes to the apartment block’s glass door: “Thank you police – our kids can play outside again” and “No more silent suffering”. A spontaneous vigil organised on Facebook gathered 80 people who lit candles and recited the Rosary in Maltese and English, a rare public display against drug infiltration.

For all the hand-wringing, activists insist the solution lies beyond policing. “We need honest education, not scare posters,” argues Carla Camilleri, founder of NGO ReGenerate, which runs Friday-night drug-testing booths at Gianpula village. “If someone hands us a bag of ‘Spice’, we can tell them in three minutes whether it contains synthetic cannabinoids or just oregano. Knowledge saves lives; handcuffs alone don’t.”

As the accused contemplates two decades behind bars, Malta must confront a harsher high than any summer cocktail: the realisation that our tiny islands have become a laboratory where global traffickers mix old-world heroin with space-age synthetics. The party, it seems, is over—unless the community reclaims the music.