Drug trafficker returned to custody after govt overturns parole decision
Ihusaan said authorities had established that the Parole Board had not correctly applied the law when approving Ibrahim’s release.
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Abdulla Ibrahim, known as Abucha, who was serving a 25-year prison sentence in a drug trafficking case, has been re-arrested after authorities determined that the Parole Board had incorrectly approved his release, Homeland Security Minister Ali Ihusaan said on Tuesday.
Ibrahim was arrested in 2020 in connection with a case involving the trafficking of more than 80 kilograms of drugs into the Maldives. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in May last year after being convicted in the case.
Police had previously alleged that Ibrahim was a leading figure in a drug trafficking network operating in Addu.
The Parole Board released Ibrahim last week, but the decision prompted questions over whether he had served the minimum period required to qualify for parole.
Speaking at a press conference at the President’s Office on Tuesday, Ihusaan said authorities had established that the Parole Board had not correctly applied the law when approving Ibrahim’s release.
He said Ibrahim was therefore taken back into custody on Tuesday afternoon.
Ihusaan explained that the Parole Board had based its decision on its calculation of the period Ibrahim had served.
According to the minister, one of Ibrahim’s sentences, handed down in 2024, was for 12 years and six months. The board calculated that about four years had elapsed between the offence in 2020 and the sentence in 2024.
It then considered the remaining period to be about eight years and calculated one-third of that period when determining his eligibility for parole, Ihusaan said.
However, Ihusaan said the board had been informed that this was not the correct way to apply the law.
He said questions surrounding decisions involving serious cases of national concern must be addressed and the legal requirements governing such decisions must be properly followed.
Ibrahim had been sentenced to 25 years in prison in May 2025 after being convicted in the drug trafficking case. He had served about five years, including the period spent in custody before sentencing, when he was released on parole.
