The police have arrested five men in three drug operations over the weekend, the police said in a statement.

In the first raid, a 43-year-old man from Tarxienwas observed passing on suspicious substances to two other persons. He was arrested and, in a search carried out in his car, the police also found sachets with cocaine and heroin.

He was arraigned before Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, admitted the charges and was sentenced to 18 months in prison and a €500 fine. The police did not give the name of the accused.

In another raid, this time in Cospicua, the police arrested two men, aged 23 and 33, who were in a car where cannabis and cocaine were found.

Further investigations led the police so a second car, in Kalkara, where two men aged 30 and 37 were arrested after cannabis and cocaine were also found.