Maldives Police Service, on Saturday, confirmed that the court released all of the seven suspects arrested on September 14, in a drug bust in capital Male'.
According to police, the court initially freed two of the suspects claiming that there was insufficient evidence linking them to the drug case.
The remaining five, taken into custody along with over one kilogram of illegal substances, were released on December 4, when they were summoned to court for their remand hearing.
The Prosecutor General's (PG) Office, requested the court to remand the suspects till the end of their trial, but the judge initially remanded the suspects for 15 days, on November 11, and announced that the state's request will be reviewed later.
A hearing was then scheduled for November 25. However, since the judge present in the session was not the one who had ordered the initial remand, he only extended the remand period for another 10 days.
The initial judge presided a five-hour session on December 3 and scheduled the final verdict of the remand for December 4, during which he stated that the none of the five suspects posed any danger to society, and therefore, ordered their release.
Although the police disclosed the aforementioned details to media, they did not reveal the court, or the judge, which made the decisions in the case.
The seven local males, aged 19, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27 and 28, were arrested in September with a court order, from the sixth floor of Vaifini residence in Henveiru Ward, based on reports provided by the drug intelligence department.
Along with the arrests, police collected 42 empty film containers, 29 plastic packets and 216 cellophane wrappings suspected of holding drugs, as well as 225 pills, one joint, one bottle of alcohol, and up to MVR 17,150 in cash.
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