Alleged drug kingpin released minutes before court summons
High Court withheld Arshad's passport.
Police on Wednesday released alleged drug kingpin Arshad Halid from custody minutes before he was ordered to be produced in High Court, prompting the court to confiscate his passport.
Police allege Arshad to be he head of a drug network whose drugs were seized in a major drug bust in 2020 in capital Male.
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Although eight people were charged, some of the top alleged drug kingpins from the network including Arshad were not convicted
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The state appealed the Criminal Court verdict at the High Court
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Police said that 119 kilos of drugs seized in operations conducted by the police in December 2021 are suspected to be linked to the network
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Police have said that Arshad had fled to Dubai after importing the drugs into the Maldives
Arshad reportedly travelled from Dubai to Sri Lanka where he was deported. Following his return to Maldives, he was arrested to implement a High Court order.
The High Court ordered the police to summon Arshad to the High Court in order to implement the High Court order.
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The summons was issued for 7.45pm on Wednesday
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Arshad was not summoned to court as a detainee; he appeared in court on his own
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Arshad was released from custody at 7.08pm Wednesday
However, the High Court withheld Arshad's passport, citing:
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Arshad is one of the defendants in an ongoing High Court appeal case
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He was not contacted by earlier attempts to appear in court in connection with the case
