Indian passenger discovered with drugs worth MVR 9M slapped with 3-day remand

Criminal Court has remanded the Indian passenger that was caught with drugs worth MVR 9 million.

The drugs were seized during an investigation prompted by intelligence information received to customs regarding an attempt to smuggle a large quantity of drugs into the Maldives via air.

In this regard, the drugs were discovered on a 56-year-old Indian woman who traveled to Maldives from Ethiopia on Wednesday. Cocaine was seized from the woman’s handbag while heroin was seized from her luggage.

The cocaine seized from the handbag weighed 1.18 kilos while the heroin seized from the luggage weighed 4.2 kilograms. Combined, their street value is estimated at MVR 9 million.

During a remand hearing on Thursday, the Criminal Court remanded the Indian woman in police custody for three days.

The court order with respect to the remand noted the failure to appoint a translator for the accused. In this regard, the court requested the appointment of a translator for the next hearing.

Over 153 drug-related cases were reported in the first 15 days of Ramadan.