A man allegedly caught on CCTV attempting to steal drugs kept for testing at the University of Malta has been remanded in custody after pleading not guilty to the charge on Sunday.

Juanito Jimenez, 27, of Ħamrun, was charged with attempting to steal more than €2,329 worth of drugs and with breaching bail conditions.

The prosecuting inspector told the court that apart from Jimenez, another three men were seen in the act on CCTV footage.

This was not their first attempt at stealing drugs from the University, a source said.

The second man is known to the police but has not yet been apprehended. The other two have still to be identified.

The court, presided over by Magistrate Joe Mifsud, turned down Jimenez’s request for bail on grounds that the accused had breached the conditions of a previous release, investigations were still underway and civilian witnesses still had to testify.

Inspectors Joseph Mercieca and Colin Sheldon prosecuted. Franco Debono and Amadeus Cachia were defence lawyers.

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