Two men arrested in drug bust operation remanded in custody

The two men who were arrested on Thursday after a police drug bust operation were arraigned before duty magistrate Yana Micallef Stafrace this afternoon. The two were denied bail and remanded in custody.

Austin Mallia and Michele Artale were found to be in possession of several kilos of cannabis, a large amount of cash and a fireaarm, during a raid in their residence in Hamrun.

A third man, Sandro Lo Presto had also been placed in custody, after investigations yielded a mandate for arrest.

The prosecution argued against bail, saying that since investigations were still ongoing, the suspects should not be released and should be kept separate from each other in custody.

The magistrate ordered that Mallia be sent to Mount Carmel Hospital to receive the required psychiatric assistance.

Arthur Azzopardi and Christopher Chircop were defence counsel to the accused. Inspectors Jonathan Cassar and Kevin Pulis prosecuted.