Three men aged 21, 22, and 23, were arrested on Friday after the police allowed one of them to pick up a parcel containing cannabis resin before following them to their residence.
The parcel that had just arrived in Malta had been flagged as possibly containing the drugs.
In a statement, the police said one of the men went to collect the parcel from Ħal Luqa and was subsequently followed the man to his residence in Ħaż-Żebbuġ where he was arrested. Some time later, two men arrived on a motorcycle to retrieve the packet containing half a kilo of cannabis grass with an estimated street value of €5,000.
The two men fled the scene – one on foot and the other on his motorcycle – upon spotting the police officers on site. The man, who ran away, was arrested nearby while the other suspect was arrested at a residence in Ħal Qormi.
The police found some 50 sachets of cannabis grass, ketamine and MDMA pills ready to be sold.
The three men will be arraigned this morning before magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo.
