Arraigned after cocaine find

A Nigerian national and a Maltese man were yesterday charged with conspiring to import 200 grammes of cocaine, with the foreigner also facing a charge of importing the substance after he allegedly swallowed drug-filled capsules.

Magistrate Doreen Clarke heard Nigerian Davidson Onuoha Osiri, 33, and Simon Borg, 39, of St Paul's Bay plead not guilty to conspiring to import cocaine and to being in possession of the drug in circumstances denoting it was not intended for their personal use on and before Saturday.

Mr Osiri was charged with importing the drug on Friday.

The two men, who were remanded in custody, are two of the four people arrested on Sunday.

The police said that over the weekend they arrested three men and a woman after finding 200 grammes of cocaine.

The investigations were sparked off by a suspicion that Nigerians were bringing drugs to Malta in capsules in their stomachs, the police had said.

Mr Osiri is the third Nigerian to be charged with importing drug-filled capsules, by ingesting them, over the past two weeks.

Police Inspectors Victor Aquilina and Pierre Grech prosecuted.

Lawyers Franco Debono, José Herrera and Veronique Dalli appeared for Mr Borg.

Lawyer Richard Sladden was legal aid to Mr Osiri.