A court has rejected an appeal filed by the Attorney General calling for the revocation of bail to a couple charged with importing more than a kilo of synthetic drugs.

Keith Vassallo, 35, and his wife Maria Christina, 28, both public sector employees, had been granted bail by Magistrate Josette Demicoli after they pleaded not guilty to charges brought against them, including that they committed the crime within 100 metres from a place frequented by young people.

Ruling on the Attorney General’s appeal, Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera said she saw no reason to vary the decision given by the court of magistrates.

The couple, from Żurrieq, had been nabbed by undercover police working in close collaboration with customs officers.

The investigation started after customs intercepted a suspicious parcel containing the illegal substance that had arrived from the Netherlands and informed the police about it. The police sent a decoy to the intended recipients instead and the fake package was accepted.

This led the police to descend on the couple and charge them in court with drug importation and possession in circumstances denoting it was not for their personal use. 

They pleaded not guilty and were granted bail.

They are being represented in court by lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Francesca Zarb.