A man and a woman have been remanded in custody after they pleaded not guilty to conspiring to import and to deal in cocaine.

Angelo Bilocca, 34, and Priscilla Cassar, 30, of Siggiewi, were arrested following a controlled delivery of one kilogram of the drug to their farm on Wednesday.

They also pleaded not guilty to relapsing and Ms Cassar alone to tampering with evidence.

Defence lawyer Jose Herrera argued that, according to recent European judgments, the controlled delivery could not be carried out because the police could not actively bait an accused.

He said that although the officers had acted according to Maltese law, he wanted to raise a Constitutional legal point about this situation.

He said that two Nigerian men turned up at their farm and handed the package to his clients. This, he said, did not mean they had a previous agreement.

The couple’s arraignment follows that of a Spanish man who cannot be named by court order and Paul Ugochukwu Offor, 37, from Spain; Kingsley Wilcox, 31, from Iklin and 35-year-old Charles Christopher Majimor from Marsascala who all pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and related charges.