Court releases 3 drug traffickers

Criminal Court on Tuesday released three suspects out of five, arrested by Maldives Police Service in July with six kilograms of illegal narcotics.

Out of the five, Abdulla Ibrahim, Ahmed Raoof and Ahmed Mamdhooh were released, while Ali Hassan was remanded for five days after his urine tested came positive for illegal substances.

The court will decide to either remand or release Mohamed Faisal, the fifth suspect, on Thursday.

The state, on September 23, pressed charges against Abdulla Ibrahim, Mohamed Faisal and Ali Hassan for cannabis trafficking. Moreover, Ahmed Raoof and Ahmed Mamdhooh were charged with being an accessory to cannabis trafficking.

Criminal Court released all the alleged drug traffickers after they were held under state custody for 62 days.

Despite the state's request to remand the suspect until conclusion of the trial, the court released them under particular requirements. However, those requirements are unknown.

Local media reports that during the remand hearing, one of the suspects confessed to the crime claiming he was solely responsible and requested the court to release the others.

All of the individuals accused in this case were previously arrested on various counts over drug trafficking and gang violence. According to the Police, some of them traffic drugs on a large scale.

Abdulla Ibrahim, Hithadhoo, Addu Atoll, was previously arrested eight times over drug-related incidents. He was also arrested over a gang-rape, two counts of gang violence, one attempt at sexual assault and two counts of obstruction of justice. He is reportedly the leader of this particular drug trafficking incident.

Ali Hassan, Hithadhoo, Addu Atoll, has nine drug-related charges against him. He was formerly arrested once for gang violence, and once over property damages.

Mohamed Faisal, Hithadhoo, Addu Atoll, was arrested twice over drug-related issues, twice over breaking the law and once over attempting to carry out an attack with a sharp object.

Ahmed Raoof, Hoarafushi, Haa Alif Atoll was formerly arrested regarding a drug case. Additionally, he was arrested thrice for theft and once for obstruction of justice.

Ahmed Mamdhooh, Hoarafushi, Haa Alif Atoll, was previously arrested over drugs and use of explosives. He was convicted in 2015 for placing an explosive near Presidential residence Muleeaage. He was sentenced to 17 years in prison for this crime, but High Court revoked the sentence October 2018 and Mamdhooh walked free.

Police followed the suspects from Haa Alif Atoll and arrested them at T-Jetty area in capital Male'. According to authorities, four packages of drugs were uncovered from the bags they were carrying.