Customs canine officer Sparky sniffed out two male British passengers in possession of illicit substances, the Customs Department said in a statement.

Yesterday, upon the Malta International Airport Control Room’s request for assistance, Customs Officers on duty searched 10 male passengers who were travelling to Malta from Leeds.

The 10 passengers were escorted by police officers and army personnel to the Customs search area at the MIA arrivals where they were rubdown searched.

All their checked-in luggage and hand luggage were scanned and checked, with Sparky reacting positively to two pieces of luggage. Two passengers were found to be in possession of illicit substances. One passenger was found to be carrying a plastic bag of a white powder, suspected to be cocaine, and two sealed packets containing grey pills suspected to be ecstasy.

The other passenger was found to be in possession of a used black grinder, with traces of a substance suspected to be marijuana, a packet containing suspected cannabis and a raw packet of rolling papers in a side pocket of a black rucksack inside his luggage.

The case was handed over to the Police for further investigation.