Corpo smembrato a Gżira: si cerca il killer e spunta una pista di droga

An AFM boat searching the area on Monday. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

A man whose body was at sea in Gżira died of asphyxiation and had more than 100 cocaine tablets in his body, according to sources.

An autopsy carried out on the victim showed he had choked to death before his body parts were dumped at sea just hours later.

Police are still trying to hunt down the alleged killer of the man three days after the gruesome discovery at around 2pm on Monday.

With the help of CCTV footage, the police have mounted a nationwide manhunt for the suspect, but multiple searches across different parts of the island have, so far, drawn blanks.

Three days on, sources said the identity of both the victim and the alleged killer is still unclear.

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An axe is believed to have been used to dismember the body, which was dumped inside the suitcase. Investigators believe the crime was committed just hours before the grim discovery since the body had not yet decomposed.

An autopsy showed the middle-aged caucasian victim was probably used as a drug mule judging by the . Sources on Thursday told Times of Malta more than 100 cocaine capsules had been found on the victim.

The incident began with reports of a suspicious piece of luggage and army explosives experts were initially called in to the seafront location. However, it transpired the suitcase contained a body.

Monday’s grim discovery is the fifth murder to take place in Malta this year, an increase from three the previous year.

Taxi driver Eric Borg was shot dead in his hometown of Rabat on New Year’s Day while later that month Colombian woman Sandra Ramirez was stabbed to death in her home..

In August, Nicolette Ghirxi was found dead in her home after being stabbed to death by her Irish ex-partner Edward William Johnston, who was later shot dead by police after a stand-off in St Julian’s.

Two months later, 54-year-old Mount Carmel resident Jesmond Gatt was found unconscious in a pool of blood, succumbing to his injuries days later.

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