A man the police say ran a “professional and scientific” cannabis-growing operation appeared in court yesterday over the cultivation of about 20 plants.

Sitting in the dock with tears welling in his eyes, John Busuttil, 33, from Santa Venera, who said he worked for an insurance company, pleaded not guilty to cultivating, producing to traffic and aggravated possession of drugs.

The police said last week they had arrested a man who was found in possession of cannabis plants in his Qormi garage following a week-long surveillance operation in the wake of reports that he had been growing the drug to sell.

Police officers found a hydroponic cultivation system in the garage in which the plants are grown in water instead of soil and are given the right nutrients to grow, Police Inspector Dennis Theuma, prosecuting, told the court.

He said Mr Busuttil had spent more than €1,000 on the equipment to supply not only himself but to make some extra cash too.

In pleas on bail, the prosecuting officer asked Magistrate Doreen Clarke to keep in mind that this was a very serious crime, “a fully fledged scientific operation” that ran on professional lines.

Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi said his client should be granted bail and given a chance to sort his life out before made to spend a lengthy spell behind bars. He said that his client had never been investigated by the police and had a clean record, besides fully cooperating during investigations.

The court remanded him in custody and ordered that his assets are frozen but allowed him to withdraw a minimum of some €13,000 a year, as permitted by law.