Lawful residents left without locks as police kick in doors for 'migration raid'
The police were unduly heavy-handed in their search for people living in Malta illegally when they raided a Marsa block on Thursday night, two residents have claimed. Residents of one building who were searched but not arrested said the police exhibited undue aggressiveness, kicking down doors indiscriminately.
A group of 49 people were arrested in the operation that involved a considerable number of police officers.
Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri later described it as an irregular migration raid accompanied by an anti-drug and organised crime operation.
Four people were arrested for drugs at two garages.
When Times of Malta visited the scene of the raid on Friday morning, the signs of forced entry were clear. Most apartment doors in the Triq il-Gerejja block seemed unable to close.
The front door to one apartment had been pried open so forcefully that the entire frame was ripped clean off the wall. Another door’s bottom panel appeared to have been kicked in by officers trying to gain access.
One door frame was ripped clean off the wall. Photo: Daniel EllulLaw-abiding residents left without a lockable door
As a result, residents cannot lock their apartments,...