A 52-year-old year woman was remanded in custody on Tuesday after a court heard how she had entered the country smuggling 64 capsules of narcotics in her body.

Glenys Altagracia Flores was arrested late on Friday night after police received a tip-off that she would be arriving in Malta on a flight from Brussels with a substantial amount of drugs on her person.

Inspector Justine Grech told the court that police had received information that the 52-year-old, who lives in the Netherlands but is from the Dominican Republic, would be on that specific incoming flight.

After making inquiries and examining the ticket Flores had booked, the police were able to confirm this information and went to wait for her at the airport.

Grech said the accused was stopped by a customs official who searched her luggage and found nothing of note.

Subsequently, Grech, with the aid of an interpreter who had joined her, informed the accused of her rights and told her she was being taken to the hospital and would be searched further.

A rudimentary search revealed that the accused was carrying eight capsules in her bra, the prosecution said, which they suspected contained cocaine. A CT scan further revealed that the woman had multiple foreign objects in her stomach.

Unfortunately, Grech continued, Flores experienced difficulties in passing the foreign objects and had to be released from custody while she was recovering in hospital.

Police went on to obtain a warrant for her arrest and subsequently held her in custody after she was discharged from hospital. In total, 64 capsules were found, Grech said.

Flores was charged with aggravated possession and conspiracy to traffic and import narcotics in front of Magistrate Gabriella Vella. She pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The court issued a freezing order on all of Flores’ finances and movable property, which caused some annoyance for the accused as she began shaking her head and looking down at the floor.

“Does this mean all the money I have in Malta or just in general,” the woman asked with the help of an interpreter. The magistrate replied that this was a general order referring to any money or property she may hold and that she would be entitled to some €13,000 a year from her finances to get by.

“But I have nothing,” the woman replied.

When asked, Flores told the court that she was unemployed and that she had lost her job due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

No request for bail was made and she was remanded in custody.

Legal aid lawyer Martin Farrugia assisted the accused.