Updated 4pm

A man and a woman were caught with €500,000 worth of cocaine, stacked inside a secret compartment in their Mercedes shortly after getting off the fast ferry from Sicily, a court has heard.

Eriko Mucaj, 18 and Giovanna Scribano, 46, both from Ragusa, were targeted in an operation by the drug squad following a tip-off about a vehicle  with Italian number plates possibly used to smuggle drugs into Malta.

Police spotted the Mercedes, driven by Scribano, disembarking from the catamaran late on Tuesday.

Further checks soon led investigators to Mucaj, a pizza maker, who had stepped off the fast ferry on foot.

A personal search of the suspect yielded a key matching a Mercedes vehicle, but the youth insisted he had left his car in Sicily.

However, when the police pressed the car key, the lights of the Mercedes driven by the woman started flashing.

When approached by the police, the woman said no one else had access to the car and denied knowing Mucaj.

Customs sniffer dogs pointed the officers to the front seats of the vehicle.

At first glance, there appeared to be nothing suspicious, but when the vehicle was scanned, police discovered secret compartments which when opened later on in the presence of the woman, revealed the drug cache.

In a statement issued earlier on Thursday, the police said the drug has a street value of €500,000.

There was also around €1,000 in cash.

The hidden compartment where the drugs were stashed.

The mobile phone of Scribano, a secretary, contained a number of messages allegedly bearing instructions as to where she was to park the vehicle and how to dispose of the cash.

Both were arrested and appeared in court on Thursday where they denied involvement in a cocaine-trafficking conspiracy, importing the drug and possessing it under circumstances denoting that it was not intended for personal use.

Their defence lawyers did not request bail at the arraignment stage since neither of the two had a fixed address in Malta. Both were remanded in custody.

Magistrate Monica Vella presided over the arraignment.

AG lawyer Daniel Tabone and Inspector Mark Anthony Mercieca prosecuted.

Lawyers Giannella de Marco and Charles Mercieca were counsel to Scribano.

Lawyers Joe Giglio and Michaela Giglio were counsel to Mucaj.