PG appeals acquittal of 3 men in 72kg drug trafficking case
The prosecution maintains that the men were part of a coordinated effort to bring illegal drugs into the country.
The Prosecutor General’s (PG) Office has filed an appeal at the High Court challenging the Criminal Court’s acquittal of three individuals accused of smuggling 72 kilograms of drugs into the Maldives by sea.
The case stems from an incident in December 2020 involving the fishing vessel Masjari 2. Following a sea operation, Maldives Police recovered the drugs from a vehicle in Malé.
Initially, 10 individuals were charged in connection with the case. The PG Office later withdrew charges against seven of them, and the Criminal Court proceeded with the trial of three suspects: Irfan Thagiyyu, Ahmed Naseer, and Mohamed Akram. All three were acquitted by the court in January this year.
The PG Office decided to appeal the ruling in April, but the submission was delayed due to a wait for the full court report.
Criminal Court Judge Ibrahim Ihsan, in his ruling, cited several evidentiary and procedural issues:
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A video and image analysis report contained a photograph incorrectly identified as Mohamed Akram, but which actually depicted another individual, Ahmed Visham. Charges against Visham had previously been withdrawn.
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The court held that this error undermined the credibility of the entire video and image report, which had been central to the prosecution’s case in what was treated as an organised crime investigation.
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The origin of the call logs was unclear, and the prosecution did not confirm whether the data had been obtained with proper court authorisation.
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No oral evidence was submitted to confirm the validity of the intelligence reports or the procedures used to compile them.
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The mobile forensic analysis did not produce any links between the suspects and the drugs recovered.
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For Irfan Thagiyyu, the state was unable to demonstrate any connection to the drugs found in the vehicle, despite an empty satellite phone box being found in his home.
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While Mohamed Akram owned the car where the drugs were discovered, the court found the state had not established a link between the drugs and the accused.
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Ahmed Naseer was identified as the driver of the boat that transferred the drugs, but the court held that this did not establish sufficient evidence of his involvement in trafficking.
The prosecution maintains that the men were part of a coordinated effort to bring illegal drugs into the country. A key figure in the case, known as Kiran, is alleged to have been the main organiser of the smuggling operation.
