MVR 7.7m drug case: Court extends remand of second local
While two judges ruled in two different ways to remand the same accused in the same case, the police requested the PG to appeal against the acquittal.
By
Mohamed Muzayyin Nazim
Criminal Court has upheld the custody of one of the two Maldivians arrested for their alleged links to drugs worth more than MVR 7 million smuggled into the Maldives by air.
On December 24, police arrested two locals for allegedly going to hand over more than 2 kg of narcotics found in the luggage of a 59-year-old Swiss national who arrived here from Brazil. While one of them was earlier acquitted by the court, the other was remanded in judicial custody on Thursday.
A 39-year-old Maldivian man arrested in connection with the case was remanded in police custody for another 19 days:
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By Criminal Court Judge Ali Adam
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The court order shows that he is accused of smuggling drugs into the country
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The other Maldivian arrested in the case is a 32-year-old man
Although there was enough evidence against him, Judge Misbah Abbas ruled on the second of this month that he could not be remanded in further custody.
While two judges ruled in two different ways to remand the same accused in the same case, the police requested the prosecutor general's office to appeal against the acquittal.
The Swiss man's luggage contained more than 2 kg of cocaine. The court had earlier sent him to 30-day judicial custody. Thus:
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They were recovered from the migrant's luggage during a search of the luggage following noticed suspicious behaviour
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The street value of these items is estimated to be MVR 7.7 million, the civic body said
