A 31-year-old man was on Sunday remanded in custody after being charged with the importation of 20kg of cannabis grass.

The Malaysian national pleaded not guilty.

Magistrate Marse-Anne Farrugia also ordered the freezing of his assets.

Times of Malta is informed the man was arrested on Saturday afternoon at the Malta International Airport after a routine inspection led to the discovery of a significant quantity of cannabis in his luggage.

The man had just landed in Malta aboard flight EK0109 from Dubai.

Shahrul Idzwan Bin Mohd Ali was arrested on the spot while carrying a large blue suitcase and a small piece of luggage.

As his luggage passed through the customs scanner, authorities detected potential hidden packages within the large blue suitcase, Times of Malta was told.

Upon inspection, it was revealed to contain 20kg of cannabis grass.

Police also seized a mobile phone for further investigation.

The man told police he had been given the sum of €2,000 to traffic what he believed to be ‘Chinese substances’.

Times of Malta is informed that Bin Mohd Ali was approached by authorities to facilitate a controlled delivery. However, he was reluctant to proceed.

Sources said the man attempted to alert an associate outside Malta to tell them he had been stopped by police.

The operation at MIA was carried out by the Police’s Drug Squad in collaboration with Customs.

Investigations are ongoing.

A magisterial inquiry was led by Magistrate Joe Mifsud.

Lawyer Mark Busuttil was legal aid counsel.