Commissioner of Police Mohamed Hameed revealed late Wednesday that the illegal narcotics seized during the most recent Male' City drug bust were estimated to have a street value of MVR 71 million.
In one of the biggest drug operations in the capital city, the police confiscated 71kgs of drugs from a private car on Wednesday afternoon. The contraband was smuggled in two suitcases and two sacks.
The police also arrested 10 suspects from the drug trafficking network and searched multiple residences in addition to the car.
"Despite deficiencies in the criminal justice system, we will continue to disrupt the trafficking of narcotic drugs", said the police commissioner in a tweet.
CP Hameed earlier disclosed that the Drug Enforcement Department, Drug Intelligence and Marine Police had been carrying out this particular operation on both land and sea for more than a week, in order to seize the contraband and arrest the perpetrators.
Under Maldivian law, drug trafficking is a serious criminal offence punishable by life imprisonment and carries a hefty fine in the range of MVR 100,000 (USD 6,485) to MVR 1 million (USD 64,850).