A man arrested in a 16.5 kilo drug bust one week before Christmas, was again denied bail when his case continued on Wednesday.

Italian-born Gennaro Russo, a 29-year old café owner from Naples living at St Paul’s Bay, was arrested after days of surveillance by the Drug Squad.

Police zeroed in on the suspect on December 16 as he was driving through Naxxar.

Searches at his residence and two garages, one at St Paul’s Bay and the other at Msida, yielded some 1.5 kilos of cocaine, 15 kilos of cannabis worth over €450,000 and some €250,000 in cash.

An officer from the Drug Squad who was present during the search at the St Paul’s Bay garage told the court that cash totaling some €200,000 had been found in bundles of €5,000.

At the time of his arrest the suspect was carrying a bag inside which police discovered cocaine and cannabis, keys, cash and two mobile phones.

Among those keys were those to the St Paul’s Bay garage where police came across sizable bags of suspected cannabis grass and cannabis resin as well as a block of white substance suspected of being cocaine.

A set of weighing scales, many empty bags and traces of drugs were also discovered inside the premises, a police officer testified.

More cannabis grass was found at the suspect’s home, inside the kitchen, while more cash was found inside a wardrobe.

Three other large bags of drugs were discovered inside the Msida garage which was accessed by a key also found in Russo’s possession.

The garage owner testified that he had rented the Msida premises to Russo for one year expiring in August 2022 against a rental payment of €840.

That amount had been paid in advance in cash and a receipt in favour of Russo had been issued by the owner who exhibited the paper in court.

A court-appointed expert confirmed on oath that the contents of some 22 evidence bags consisted of 41 packets of cannabis resin weighing 3.9 kilos in total, 41 containers of cannabis grass weighing some 10 kilos.

A fresh request for bail was again objected to by the prosecution in view of the fact that civilian witnesses were still to testify, investigations were still underway and a number of other suspects were currently on police bail.

These objections prompted defence lawyer Franco Debono to stress the fact that the accused was still under arrest and that the prosecution, twelve days since the arraignment, had not yet summoned these witnesses in spite of having known well ahead about Wednesday’s sitting.

After hearing submissions by both parties Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras, turned down the request for bail in view of the serious nature of the charges, the fact that proceedings were still at an early stage and also since investigations were still ongoing.

The court also deemed the accused as unable to sufficiently guarantee bail conditions, even in view of the real risk of tampering with evidence.

Before remanding the accused in custody the court decreed that there was sufficient prima facie evidence for him to stand trial under a bill of indictment.

Inspectors Justine Grech and Mark Anthony Mercieca are prosecuting.

Lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Alex Scerri Herrera are defence counsel.