The Criminal Court has sentenced a man to 17 years in prison in a case where over a kilogram of drugs was found under the seat of a motorcycle.

Haroon Jailam, Kafidhooge, Lh. Hinnavaru, was arrested in August of last year during an operation conducted by the police following intelligence that he was concealing and trading drugs under the seat of a motorcycle.

During that operation, when he was stopped and searched, the motorcycle he was using was searched using the key found on him, and more than a kilogram of cannabis was found under the motorcycle seat.

In this case, Haroon Jailam confessed to the charge of trafficking cannabis brought against him and made a plea agreement with the state. Under that agreement, the state agreed to reduce his sentence to a 17-year prison term.

Therefore, in accordance with that agreement, yesterday's ruling by the Criminal Court stated that Haroon Jailam was sentenced to 17 years in prison along with a fine of MVR 100,000. The ruling ordered the fine to be paid to the state within one year.

Although Haroon Jailam was sentenced to 17 years in prison, after deducting the period he spent in remand, the prison term he now has to serve is 15 years and 11 months.