An alleged drug trafficker with links to the mafia appeared in court this morning at the start of proceedings for his extradition to Palermo.

Donatella Frendo Dimech, from the Attorney General's Office told the court that Salvatore Stefano Rizzotto, 37, is wanted by the authorities in Palermo for alleged possession and trafficking of 19 kilos of marijuana. They issued a warrant for his arrest in September and a European Arrest warrant in October.

An official from the Palermo police testified that Mr Rizzotto was well known to the police and had a number of pending drug cases before the courts in Sicily. He had also been convicted on drug cases in the past.

Defence lawyers Anglu Farrugia and Edward Gatt told the court in pleas on bail that their client is a European citizen and should be treated as if he was Maltese. Furthermore, he has a fixed address here and hours before he was arrested, he was eating in a restaurant, showing he was not on the run.

Dr Frendo Dimech said that Mr Rizzotto had ties to the mafia and could not be trusted. Furthermore, he had no connections to Malta and had been on the run for three months. He even left Malta and then returned.

Magistrate Audrey Demicoli remanded him in custody.