Vietnam's Khánh Hòa Province's People's Court sentenced a Maldivian man to 20 years in prison on Thursday for smuggling more than 1.5 kilograms of drugs into the country.

The convicted prisoner is 39-year-old Mohamed Anil. There is no additional information regarding him at this point.

Vietnamese news media reported that the court sentenced him to be deported once he serves his sentence.

The charges in the case reads that Anil was arrested with drugs on his person on 8th December 2025. He was arrested at the Cam Ranh International Airport in the Khánh Hòa Province during the Immigration and Customs inspection after he had left from Bangkok, Thailand. Customs officials suspected he had drugs in his check-in and hand luggage, and arrested him upon finding drugs after conducting a search.

He was searched by Vietnam Customs and other relevant administrations, with what looked to be many packets of drugs being found in both his bags. However, he tested negative for drugs.

According to the investigation, Anil was staying at a hotel in Bangkok on 7th November 2025, with a friend of his named "Afoo" who lives in Pattaya City, Thailand propositioning him to take six packets of drugs from Thailand to Vietnam.

Afoo's whereabouts and information is unclear as of yet. The investigation showed that Afoo told Anil that he would be given USD 1,000 if he took the drugs to Vietnam, with USD 500 being given to Anil for the trip and food, while it was allegedly Afoo who packed the drugs into Anil's luggage. Anil was also told that the person who would take the luggage from him from Vietnam would contact him.

The total weight of the drugs Anil attempted to smuggle into Vietnam is around 1.5 kilograms. This includes 1.07 kilograms of mephedrone and 478.46 grams of Alpha-PiHP.