A man was remanded in custody on Saturday after he pleaded not guilty to importing five kilos of cannabis.

Pedro Henrique Correa de Sousa, 36, from Setubal, Portugal, was also charged with importing cocaine, which he failed to prove was for personal use, and other psychotic and restricted drugs without authorisation.

The accused was busted on arrival from Madrid on Thursday by a customs’ sniffer dog.

The court denied the accused bail on grounds that he did not have links with Malta and accepted the prosecution’s request for the freezing of his assets, which was objected to by the defence.

Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech notified the Attorney General and the justice and finance ministers that the Criminal Code and the Drug Law still referred to the Registrar of Courts and not to the director of the Asset Recovery Bureau.

Set up in 2015, the bureau was essentially dormant for the two subsequent years, with many of its governing provisions not in place. 

In August, it was given given wide-ranging powers to not only confiscate but also sell the proceeds of criminal activity.

The magistrate said that the laws still had to be amended to reflect the administrative changes.

Mr Correa de Sousa was represented by lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri. Inspector Frank Anthony Tabone prosecuted.