Maldives Police Service, on Friday, rearrested four out of five suspects implicated in a drug case, that were released by the Criminal Court earlier this month.
The rearrests were made with an order from the High Court, which ruled the Criminal Court's release of the suspects as unlawful. Police confirmed that they had requested the Prosecutor General to file an appeal over the Criminal Court's decision on behalf of the state.
On December 4, the lower court had freed the five suspects when they were summoned to the court for the ninth time to increase their remand period, with the conclusion that none of the individuals posed any dangers to society.
Along with the rearrest order, High Court also ordered three of the suspects to be remanded till the end of trial and for the remand period of the other to be extended by 15 days. However, the court allowed the fifth suspect to go free, under a set of requirements, after taking his health into account.
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. Two of them were released shortly afterwards due to the court concluding that there was insufficient evidence linking them to the drug case.
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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