A 64-year-old man was arrested over the importation of heroin, the police said in a statement on Friday.

The man was arrested late on Wednesday at the Malta International Airport, after he was found to be in possession of three kilos of a substance believed to be heroin.

The man, who resides in Cospicua, was stopped by the police when he arrived in Malta, travelling from Brussels in Belgium, after the police received information that he was carrying illegal substances in his bags. After support from the Customs' Dogs section was requested, suspicion increased when the dog began indicating that there was something suspicious in the bag.

The police opened it, and in a false bottom a large packet of the drug was found, which has a street value of €600,000.

Duty Magistrate Marseanne Farrugia was informed about the find and an inquiry was launched. Tha man is being held under arrest in the police lockup and the Headquarters in Floriana.

He is expected to be arraigned later today.