Two men have been remanded in custody after pleading not guilty of involvement in a 84 kilo cannabis haul discovered inside a van last Saturday.

Tomislav Hegedus, 26, from Mosta, a manager and Fabian Catania, 42, from Qawra, an estate agent, were arrested after they were found in possession of the drug, which appeared ready to be sold.

The two were arrested in Santa Venera by members of the police Drug Squad and the Rapid Intervention Unit, after they had been under observation for a number of days.

They were arraigned separately over charges of drug trafficking conspiracy and possession of cannabis in circumstances which indicated that the drug was not for their personal use.

Mr Hegedus was separately charged with complicity in the importation of cannabis and with having breached bail conditions.

Mr Catania was separately charged with the unauthorised possession of cocaine and with being a recidivist.

The court was told that the drugs were discovered hidden inside furniture stacked in the van which one of the men was driving, and which had been stopped by the police.

A request for bail was turned down by the court. In respect of Mr Catania, the court cited the gravity of the case, the possible tampering with evidence and the ongoing investigations as the grounds for denying bail.

In the case of Mr Hegedus, the prosecution pointed out that there were additional grounds meriting the denial of bail. The arrested man was deemed untrustworthy especially since he had breached earlier bail conditions granted in the course of drug-related proceedings.

The court once again denied bail on the basis of the possible tampering with evidence and the lack of trustworthiness of the arrested man.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Mario Mifsud were defence counsel to Mr Hegedus.

Lawyer Michael Sciriha was defence counsel to Mr Catania. Police inspectors Jonathan Cassar and Anthony Scerri prosecuted.