A 64-year-old pensioner, arrested at the airport on Wednesday after allegedly landing from Brussels with some €600,000 worth of heroin hidden under the lining of his suitcase, has been remanded in custody.

Raymond Balzan, a Cospicua resident, had just stepped off the flight and was lining up with other incoming passengers when he was stopped by police.

Acting upon confidential information received by the Drug Squad about possible drug-ferrying passengers on board the 10:30pm flight, police began to search passengers. 

Suspicions were aroused when a police dog sniffed out a particular suitcase belonging to Balzan.

When opened, that luggage yielded a suspicious parcel tucked away under the lining at the bottom.

The parcel was found to contain some 3 kilos of suspected heroin, with a street value of around €600,000. 

The passenger was arrested.

He was charged with involvement in a drug trafficking conspiracy, importation and procurement of heroin, as well as possession of the drug under circumstances denoting that the drug was not intended solely for personal use. 

The accused pleaded not guilty when he appeared in court on Friday. 

The prosecution requested a freezing order which was upheld by the court, save for the annual statutory allowance of €13,976.

Defence lawyer Joseph Brincat pointed out that such an order should not apply to the accused’s pension since it was “nonsensical” to say that those funds were derived from crime. 

The court, presided over by Magistrate Nadine Lia, observed that it could not consider that argument as worded and without any evidence produced to that effect today.

No request for bail was made at arraignment stage but the defence requested that the prosecution was to produce its evidence as soon as possible. 

Inspector Marshal Mallia prosecuted.