Man sentenced over drug package collected from post office

The Criminal Court has sentenced a man to imprisonment and a fine after finding him guilty of participating in the smuggling of drugs collected from a post office.

Ali Mufawiz, of Hudhuvilaage/S. Meedhoo, was convicted of involvement in drug trafficking. The court imposed a fine of MVR 75,000 and sentenced him to 18 years in prison. After deducting time already served, he is to serve 15 years, nine months and 27 days. The court ordered the fine to be paid within one year.

According to court records, a yellow box that arrived in the Maldives on 20 December 2023 was flagged during X-ray screening. When Mufawiz went to the post office three days later, the box was opened and examined in his presence.

The court said drugs were concealed inside the box within two bookcases among children’s reading toys. The substances tested positive for cathinone.

Mufawiz denied the charges and told the court that he operated a delivery service on Facebook under the name “FB Cart” and also undertook deliveries for a page called “Raajje Delivery”, run by a friend. He said he went to the post office with a copy of the owner’s identity card and a letter after receiving a request from Raajje Delivery to collect the package. He said he was unaware that the box contained drugs.

The court heard that police attempted to contact Mufawiz using a phone number he had provided, but calls were not answered. The court also heard that the sender attempted to contact Mufawiz’s number 17 times regarding the package.

Mufawiz said his number had been posted as the delivery contact for “Maldives Delivery”. However, the owner of the delivery page told the court that Mufawiz’s number was not listed as a delivery contact and that he had stopped working with Mufawiz six months before the incident. The page owner also stated that Mufawiz was not involved in deliveries for the page on the day in question.

In its ruling on Monday, the Criminal Court said the elements of the offence were established, noting that Mufawiz had taken possession of the box containing the drugs and attempted to hand it over to another person. The court said the investigation and trial established that the box was handed over at the request of a friend, but that full details of the individual were not provided to police.