Two men were remanded in custody, charged with drug trafficking on Friday, following a successful operation by the Drugs Squad in which officers seized 3kg of cocaine and large quantities of various other illegal substances.

Silvestre Antonio Garcia Alvarez, 37, from the Dominican Republic and 58-year-old Maximo Luna Diaz from Spain were arraigned under arrest before magistrate Rachel Montebello, accused of importing and conspiracy to traffic cocaine and other psychotropic substances, and money laundering offences.

Police Inspectors Mark Anthony Mercieca and John Leigh Howard told the court the defendants had been the subject of police surveillance for some time, on suspicion of involvement in the drugs trade.

The information gathered by the surveillance operation led to a raid on what the police suspected was the place where the men stashed their drugs.

Those suspicions turned out to be correct, as the police raid recovered some 3kg of cocaine, 600g of amphetamines, 400g of ketamine, around 2,500 ecstasy pills and an undisclosed amount of cash.

The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges. Bail was not granted.

Lawyers Yanika Bugeja and Mark Busuttil assisted the defendants as legal aid counsel.