Powerboats destined for Libya have been stopped by the Customs Department at Malta Freeport over suspicion they were going to be used to ferry migrants.

The department said that over the past months and weeks, 23 containers, loaded with a powerboat each, were intercepted by its Strategic Trade and Sanctions Monitoring Unit.

The boats were withheld after discussions with the Sanctions Monitoring Board that is tasked with ensuring Maltese entities observe UN sanctions. Photos of the boats disseminated by the Customs Department suggest that they are used boats.

“The movement of these powerboats was considered restricted as contents within were maritime equipment suspected to potentially facilitate illegal migration,” the department said.

It added that the boats were prevented from proceeding to their intended destination on the provisions of a legal notice enacted this year introducing measures to combat smuggling activities in the central Mediterranean.