Edward Cardona, 36, from St Paul’s Bay, went on trial on Monday, accused of conspiring to traffic cocaine and possession of the drug.

The case goes back to 2013 when police arrested a female drug courier at Malta International Airport.

The woman was found to have been carrying a number of drug-filled capsules inside her stomach, with subsequent hospital checks yielding 73 capsules bearing almost one kilo of cocaine with a street value of €57,513.

The woman had later told investigators that she had been instructed by an Algerian man from Spain, called ‘Obi’, to smuggle the drug into Malta and hand it to pre-determined customers.

In the course of her collaboration with the police, the woman had recounted how she had visited the island several times.

On one occasion, back in December 2012, she had allegedly met “a tall, bald and burly man,” for the purpose of handing over some 70 capsules of cocaine and a further 20 grams of the drug, in terms of his agreement with ‘Obi.’

This information led police to Mr Cardona.

The trial is presided over by Mr Justice Giovanni Grixti.

Lawyers Nadia Attard and Ann Marie Cutajar from the Office of the Attorney General are prosecuting.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Amadeus Cachia are defence counsel.