A suspended member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is facing three charges related to cocaine trafficking in New Brunswick.

Const. Albert Michelin, 50, was charged this morning with trafficking cocaine and two counts of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

Michelin was handcuffed as he made a brief appearance in provincial court in Moncton on Monday afternoon for a bail hearing. That hearing did not proceed, and was adjourned until Wednesday.

Michelin, a 23-year veteran of the RCMP, had been stationed as a constable on the Tobique First Nation since 2010.

Before that, Michelin served as an RCMP officer in Labrador for 18 years.

He has been suspended from duty, with pay, since early 2012 due to unrelated code of conduct investigations, states an RCMP release.

"These are very serious charges, and all the more serious because they involve an RCMP member," said the statement issued today.

Michelin was arrested Friday in Moncton following an investigation by the RCMP's federal operations unit that began in January 2013.

He will remain in custody until Wednesday's bail hearing.