A Syrian man was arrested after police allegedly saw him take a bag he thought contained drugs.

Alna Mohamad Nour, 19, of Mosta, pleaded not guilty to being in possession of nearly 1.2kgs of cannabis resin and plant, not for personal use, on Saturday.

Police Inspector Nikolai Sant said the police were tipped off about a drug pick-up and went to an area near his Swieqi apartment.

They found a bag with 650 grams of cannabis resin and exchanged it for an empty one.

Inspector Sant said they then saw Mr Nour pick up the bag, which he put back when he saw it was empty. He was then arrested.

The police searched his apartment and found items related to drug use. Another 600 grams of cannabis resin were found in a connecting shaft in the block that led to an abandoned apartment.

Insp. Sant objected to bail, saying the accused was not credible and changed his residence often.

However, defence lawyers Joe Giglio and Gianluca Caruana Curran said there were no witnesses in the case and their client was willing to stay with his parents.

Magistrate Edwina Grima granted bail against a deposit of €3,000 and a personal guarantee of €15,000.

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