Six Maltese men, who are being investigated over the illegal hunting of wild boar in Messina, were each fined €3,000 by the Appeals Court in Sicily.
The men, Dylan Falzon, 29, Richard Cilia, 61, Carmel Aquilina, 61, David Falzon, 36, David Joseph Catania, 32, and Jason Mark Agius, 56, were arrested in April while waiting to board the catamaran to Malta from Pozzallo.
An inspection of their vehicles by Guardia di Finanza officers revealed 500kg of wild boar meat sealed in bags, 300 cartridges and 10 hunting rifles. The men were being investigated for breach of local wildlife regulations since they were hunting in closed season.
Court documents show they went on a hunting trip in the province of Messina on the sprawling grounds of a company that specialises in hunting.
Italian prosecutors sought an order of seizure on the evidence lifted during the inspections. In May, the Ragusa Tribunal rejected the men’s request for the order of seizure to be lifted.
They appealed the ruling but their objections were dismissed in their entirety by the Appeals Court recently. Apart from being ordered to pay court expenses, each of the men was fined €3,000.