Head Chief Inspector of Police Ibrahim Imran of Police's Narcotics Control Operation stated that the drugs were brought in by a 44 year old Malaysian man.
Customs have seized 15kg of drugs which an individual attempted to bring into Maldives through air travel.
This is the highest amount of drugs seized at one time while being attempted to be smuggled in by a passenger arriving via air travel. Previously, larger amounts of drugs such as this were generally caught during sea travels.
In a joint press conference held by Police and Customs today, Assistant Commissioner of Customs Mohamed Maseeh said that these drugs had been discovered last Saturday morning from a Malaysian traveler who arrived in Maldives on an Emirates flight.
Head Superintendent of Customs Mohamed Afzal from Customs Intelligence said that when the luggage of this man was checked, illegal items were observed. As a result, Customs conducted further checks on the luggage, through which they discovered a packet of cannabis.
Afzal revealed that the 15.38 kg of drugs found in the luggage have a value of MVR 12.4 million.
Customs said that further investigation showed that the individual had attempted to cover up the route in which he had travelled. A fake ticket was found in his possession, and he had travelled to Maldives from Bangkok via Dubai, Afzal said. The individual had planned to return back to Malaysia.
Head Chief Inspector of Police Ibrahim Imran of Police's Narcotics Control Operation stated that the drugs were brought in by a 44 year old Malaysian man, who has now been placed under arrest along with a 41 year old Malaysian man believed to have been colluding with him.
Drug Trafficking Investigation Head Chief Inspector of Police Ahmed Waheed said that the court had ordered 5 days remand in custody for both these individuals.
He further said that the authorities suspect the involvement of individuals from four countries in this case. However, no involvement of a Maldivian has been detected so far.
Waheed said that 31 cases of drug trafficking have been sent to the Prosecutor General's Office. While charges have been pressed in 9 of these cases, 1 case has led to convictions.
Afzal revealed that so far this year, Customs have seized 64 kg of drugs, worth MVR 106 million.
He cautioned the public to avoid taking possession of parcels and packages handed over by people while travelling in countries which Maldivians frequently travel to, such as Malaysia and Thailand. In the instance that one has to accept packages from a person, he advised caution.
Sign In
