In his defense, Tirso is insisting he was unaware of the content of his luggage where the drug was allegedly found. He told Magistrate Giovanni Grixti he was a "bona fide traveller" and someone in Istanbul had given him the luggage to pass on to a friend in Malta.

Tirso claimed he was a taxi driver and a construction worker and pleaded not guilty to conspiring to deal in drugs, importing the heroin and being in possession of the drug with the intent to sell. He made a request for bail arguing he was innocent and should not be sent to jail.

Police Inspectors Dennis Theuma and Pierre Grech, prosecuting, objected. Inspector Theuma explained that on Monday morning he went to the airport to await a flight from Istanbul. When the plane landed, a number of people were searched. When Tirso's luggage was scanned, the police noticed that something was hidden in its base.

The luggage was opened and officers found two A2-size packets filled with brown powder and wrapped in brown paper. Preliminary results showed that the powder was heroin and the purity of which was still to be established.

The police officer added that this was not the first time Tirso had visited Malta. He did not seem to have relatives here and did not have a fixed address because he always stayed in hotels. This meant there was the risk he would abscond if granted bail.

Besides, he argued, the police were investigating other people in connection with this case and there was the risk that Tirso would tamper with evidence. After hearing the submissions, Magistrate Grixti turned down the request for bail.

A 40-year-old Maltese man resident in Mosta and a 27-year-old from St Paul's Bay were also arrested. Following further investigations, a large sum of money in Maltese and foreign cash was also found in a residence in Marsa. The place belongs to a relative of one of the men arrested.