14 kilogrammes of cocaine, worth around €1.4 million, was found hidden onboard a container ship which arrived in Malta on Friday night, the Police Force said in a statement on Sunday.

Police said that the drug find is being investigated with the support of officials from the Customs Department.

Police said that the MSC Firenze arrived at the Freeport in Malta on Friday night, and the captain soon after informed Maltese authorities that during a routine inspection on 21 October, crew members had noticed a black bag wrapped in some netting in one of the compartments near the ship’s engines.

Due to the suspicion that that bag may contain something illegal, the crew members sealed it and passed it onto the police as soon as it arrived in Malta.

When opened, the bag revealed 14 packets of cocaine, each weighing around a kilogram.

The ship is registered in Liberia and left Panama on 17 October.  It was destined for the port of Gioia Tauro in Italy after its stop at the Freeport in Malta.

Magistrate Philip Galea Farrugia is leading an inquiry.