Updated Monday 8.35am - Customs officers seized 150 kilos of cannabis in a Christmas Eve drug bust after searching a van as it was driven off the catamaran from Sicily.

They also found an automatic pistol and €36,210 cash on the van which arrived from Sicily 

During the inspection, the driver, a 42-year-old Maltese man residing at Msida, was asked if he had anything to declare to Customs and he replied that he had a few alcohol bottles for personal use and some toys for his children, the Customs Department said. 

But during a search of his van, suspicious plastic bales were noted and officers immediately suspected they contained Cannabis grass. Police from the Rapid Intervention Unit and the Drug Squad were quickly on site and the van was taken to police headquarters. 

A detailed search there revealed 10 plastic bales containing 150 kilos of cannabis grass, a Beretta .25cl automatic pistol and a magazine with eight bullets, and undeclared €36,210 in cash.

The driver is expected to be arraigned in court in the next hours.

Also on Christmas eve, customs officers stopped another van, driven by a 31- year-old Syrian national. Asked if he had anything to declare to Customs he replied in the negative though a number of bags containing water pipe tobacco were clearly visible.

The inspectors found 48 kilos of shisha water pipe tobacco. The driver is also expected to be taken to court.  

At the airport, customs officers on Saturday stopped a Georgian man who had flown in on a flight from Istanbul.

A scan of his luggage turned up 200 fake €100 banknotes. The 64-year-old was quickly taken to court and handed a suspended sentence.