Two men caught trying to smuggle 4kg of cannabis into Malta in September have been granted bail after spending two months in preventive custody.

Rita Scicluna, 41, of Luqa and Osaro Osarenkhoe, 27, of Nigeria had just landed from the ferry from Sicily when customs officials discovered the drug in the possession. The woman's Nigerian husband Nicholas Obaseki, 28, was waiting outside the ferry terminal and was also arrested.

In court it was revealed that the three had been monitored by the police for quite some time and that the arrest followed a tip-off by an off-duty police officer, who happened to be in Sicily when the man and woman boarded the ferry to Malta.

The drugs were discovered by sniffer dogs during a search of the vehicle which was being driven by the woman.

During their arraignment the three pleaded not guilty to trafficking charges. The court of magistrates had denied the two men their request for bail, while granting bail to the woman on account of her being the mother of a young child.

A second request for bail made by the men at a later date had also been turned down by the court and the accused were held in preventive custody.

The two men were finally granted bail by the court of magistrates presided by magistrate Neville Camilleri, who ordered their temporary release from arrest against a deposit of €5,000 and a personal guarantee of €25,000.

The men were bound to sign the bail book daily and observe a curfew. Their passports and ID cards were also deposited in court.

Lawyer Albert Zerafa is apppearing on behalf of Scicluna and Obaseki. Lawyers Franco Debono and Amadeus Muscat are appearing for Osarenkhoe.