Woman remanded in custody after receiving 600g of cannabis by post

29-year-old Mandy Cassar was remanded in custody on Sunday morning after she allegedly imported 600g of cannabis by post from the United States.

Police explained in court this morning how they used a decoy package of cannabis in a sting operation. Police officers told Magistrate Joe Mifsud that they had been tipped off about the alleged importation by Customs officials.

The package was declared to contain four books, but Customs officials found three books and an object wrapped in plastic. Upon further investigation, the package was found to contain around 600 grams of cannabis, around 3,000 joints.

READ MORE: Woman arrested after receiving 600g of cannabis by post from the US

They then replaced the package of cannabis with a decoy, carrying out a controlled delivery operation on Friday.

Cassar was the person who received the package when it was delivered to her residence by MaltaPost. Cassar also opened the package and handled its contents, Police Inspector Joseph Xerri, appearing for the prosecution, said.

Defence Lawyer Franco Debono did not contest the validity of the arrest but asked the court for bail. Debono insisted that denying the woman bail would see a person with a clean record and who was still presumed innocent behind bars.

Inspector Xerri, however, said that there were still a number of witnesses to testify. Magistrate Mifsud turned down the bail request.