Two Maldivians arrested from India airport with narcotics

Two Maldivian nationals have been arrested from an airport in India with one kilo of hashish oil.

They were arrested from the Chennai International Airport.

They have been identified as:

• Abdulla Alim, 22
• Shamsiyya Mohamed, 24

They were arrested on their way to board a SriLankan Airlines flight to Maldives.

Indian press reports the narcotics were packed in silver foil paper and hidden inside shampoo bottles.

According to the Indian press, the shampoo bottles raised suspicion as they were brand new, but didn’t have any seals on them.

The two Maldivian nationals are reported to have entered India 20 days ago, on June 23. They had initially stayed at Trivandrum before moving to Chennai.

According to the press, they were placed under surveillance by the Narcotics Control Bureau of India based on a tip, and were intercepted by officers when they went to check-in their luggage at the airport.

The street value of the narcotics confiscated from them is over MVR 1 million.