Five defendants accused in connection with the seizure of more than 230kg of drugs in Nicosia in February pleaded not guilty to all 30 charges before the Nicosia criminal court on Friday.

The trial has been adjourned to December 17 amid the prospect that four more suspects will be added to the indictment.

All five, who have been held since their arrest, remain in custody at the central prisons.

The adjournment followed a request from defence lawyer Dimitris Tsolakidis, who told the court that the case may be connected to the arrests made last Thursday under Operation Plegma, when four people were remanded in custody.

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As the allegations relate to the same events, he argued, the four could be charged and joined to the existing indictment, which would bring the number of defendants to nine.

Should that occur, proceedings against the four would have to be suspended and the case registered afresh for all nine, and he asked that it be put back to allow for this.

Lawyers for the other defendants agreed, with the exception of the lawyer for defendant four, who asked that his client be required to respond to the charges and who then entered a denial.

The case dates from February 19, when officers stopped a vehicle in Nicosia and found 11,480 firecrackers together with cannabis and cocaine.

Searches connected to the driver then uncovered 167kg of cannabis, 62kg of cocaine and 4.5kg of cannabis resin, and police also seized firearms, explosive devices and cash.

Police said on Friday that the network behind the operation has been largely dismantled.

Christos Andreou, head of the organised crime directorate, said that assets worth €750,000 have been frozen, comprising property valued at about €400,000 and €350,000 in cash and bank accounts.

“Our aim is that in addition to the drugs and the identification of the persons involved in this case, we are also following the money,” he said.

Asked whether the ring had been fully dismantled, he replied that this could not be confirmed until inquiries were complete, but that “to a large extent” it had been.

Thursday’s operation involved 27 searches across the island and the arrest of 26 people, with officers seizing more than €25,000 in cash, 37 mobile phones, two firearms and ammunition.

Twenty-two of those arrested were released after questioning, while four were remanded for five days; police believe all 26 are associates of the original five.

Investigations are continuing and further arrests have not been ruled out, as statements from the suspects and data recovered from the seized phones may point to additional individuals.

Andreou said the directorate, which was launched in early October, is handling four other major cases, among them one involving almost half a ton of ketamine bound for the Israeli market.