The Maldives Police Services have uncovered 77.46 grams of narcotics buried under paving bricks on Saibani Goalhi in Malé City.
The police blocked the street on a tip off and discovered 30 rubber packets, 77 small rubber packets, a photo film box and two folded cellophane pieces containing narcotics.
A large amount of rubber packets used to pack narcotics were also found in the area, police said.
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(0)The leader of a nation-wide drug network, Ibrahim Shafaz, was sentenced to 18 years in prison, Sun Online reports.
The sentence was handed down to Shafaz and five associates on Tuesday. Shafaz must also pay a fine of MVF 75 000 (US$4860) within one month.
Three accomplices, Ismail Shaheem, Mohamed Meead and Anas Anees, received ten years.
Two men affiliated with the network – Hussain Athif and Abdul Sattar Ali – were also convicted and sentenced to 18 years and MVR 75,000 (US$4860) in fines.
Shafaz was arrested in 2011 as part of the two-year long “Operation Challenge,” combating the drug network.
800 grams of heroin were seized by police from Shafaz’s apartment, and opiates were confiscated from an apartment rented by an affiliate of the network.
The conviction came on the strength of recorded phone calls and financial transactions with a contact in Colombo, believed to be the supplier.
The network had been operating since 2006.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Criminal Court has sentenced Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor for not complying with the court summons in a case where he was charged for refusing to provide a urine sample to police.
Criminal Court Spokesperson Ahmed Mohamed Manik today confirmed that the court has sentenced Hamid to six months in prison.
“He was sentenced for not complying with the court orders,’’ he said. ‘”The other case where he is charged for not giving the urine sample will continue.’’
Hamid’s lawyer and former deputy prosecutor general Hussein Shameem today told Minivan News that he had not officially received information about the court verdict but that he had heard it through the media.
‘’In the past eight years no one was sentenced to six months in a case where a person failed to comply with court summons,’’ he said.
Shameem said that normally the court sentences for not complying with court summons were a fine of MVR75 or a four month jail sentence.
He said that he will decide on appealing the case after he gets the court verdict officially.
According to Shameem, the court could sentence Hamid to an additional one year if it finds him guilty of the original case where he was charged for denying a urine sample to police.
Meanwhile, Hamid has issued a statement on the MDP’s website saying that he was not provided with an official requisition form as is required under article 7 of regulations on procuring, transferring, and testing urine samples and that he was not instructed to provide a urine sample as per regulations.
‘”At the hearing of the case held on 9 October 2013, the prosecution (state) lawyer had repeatedly failed to respond to my lawyer’s query whether I was instructed to provide a urine sample through an official requisition form as per regulations,’’ Hamid said in the statement.
“Therefore, this is an irrelevant and unsubstantiated case of political predation by the Maldives Police Service, the Office of the Prosecutor General and the Criminal Court, in direct contravention and disregard to official procedures and laws.’’
He said that he had been attending the court according to the summons until 23 October, when there had been a parliament sitting scheduled meaning he was unable to attend, sending a letter to the court informing it of such.
Hamid said that the court did not respond to his letter.
Majlis refuge
Parliament yesterday brought an amendment to its regulations, allowing MPs to attend parliamentary sittings and voting even if they are convicted of a criminal offence.
A total of 10 people were taken into police custody on November 16 after police raided and searched Hondaidhoo with a court warrant. Officers alleged they found large amounts of suspected drugs and alcohol upon searching the island.
In August this year Criminal Court Media Official Ahmed Mohamed Manik told Minivan News that the PG had charged MDP MPs Abdulla Jabir and Hamed with smuggling alcohol into the country and consuming alcohol.
Jabir and Ghafoor were also both charged with objecting to urine testing and possession of cannabis.
Former President Mohamed Nasheed’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair and his wife Mariyam Faiza were also charged for objecting to take a urine test, said Manik.
Additionally, the son of former President Nasheed’s Special Envoy, Mohamed Hamdhoon Zaki, has been charged for trafficking illegal drugs into the country – the penalty for which is 25 years and can be fined up to MVR10million.
On 24 October, the Criminal Court issued a warrant to arrest and summon Hamid to the court, but the MP took refuge in the parliament building on the same day meaning police were unable to arrest him.
Article 11 of the Parliamentary Privileges Act states that an MP cannot be summoned to court when Majlis sittings or parliamentary committee hearings are scheduled.
The parliament has also scheduled a no-confidence motion against Prosecutor General [PG] Ahmed Muiz for being biased and also for not fulfilling his legal duties in taking action against police and military officers who violated the law on February 6 and 7, 2012, after the Commission of National Inquiry’s (CoNI) report found that officers had violated the laws.
The issue has been now scheduled to next Monday after the PG told the parliament that he needed more time to respond to the no-confidence motion.
(0)Dislikes(0)The National Drug Agency (NDA) has issued a statement warning people of a strong illicit drug in Male’.
The NDA said that the substance has harmful effects such as seizures, breathing difficulties and that it effects the functioning of the heart leading to death.
The NDA advised people to seek the help of a doctor as soon as possible if they come across any of the stated symptoms.
The drug agency did not mention the name of the drug nor what it looked like, but stated that their free toll 1410 will provide details of the drug.
Minivan News contacted 1410 and was forwarded to the front desk where they said there was no one at the NDA who could provide details of the drug mentioned in the statement.
However, NDA Treatment Department Head Abdulla Faseeh has told local media that drug dealers have been mixing illicit drugs with depressants without considering the quantity or the type of controlled drugs they are mixing it with.
Faseeh told newspaper Haveeru that drug dealers had mixed different types of controlled prescription drugs with illicit drugs in the black market.
In March 2009, Minivan News reported a series of deaths related to heroin laced with benzodiazepine, a class of psychoactive drugs.
The combination of benzodiazepine with opiates is known to lead to coma and even death.
The 2009 deaths included a number of users committing or attempting suicide. Earlier this week, a man was reported to have hanged himself inside an unused political party campaign office.
The area was reported to have been frequented by drug addicts living in the area after the Jumhooree Party stopped conducting political activities in the area.
In February this year the first drug survey done in the Maldives was released, showing that there were an estimated 7,500 drug users in the Maldives of which the majority were young people between the ages 15 and 24.
The survey showed that cannabis was the most popular used drug, followed by alcohol and opioids. It reported that there were about 200 intravenous drug users in Male’ and 300 in the other parts of the country who are vulnerable to the spread of blood-borne diseases such as AIDS and hepatitis.
Police statistics show that drugs related offences have increased by 16.4 percent this year in comparison to last year’s figures.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) has charged Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Spokesperson MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor for refusing to give a urine sample to police in a case last year in which a group of MDP politicians were arrested on an uninhabited island and charged with alcohol and drug possession.
The PGO’s lawyers told the Criminal Court that Ghafoor was arrested on November 16 last year in connection with a drugs case, and said he had refused to give a urine sample and had therefore violated the Drug Act.
Ghafoor’s lawyer told the court that she could only respond to the charges on behalf of her client after receiving the relevant documents. The presiding judge, Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed, told her these would be provided and scheduled the next hearing for October 9.
Ghafoor was arrested yesterday (September 30) in the afternoon ahead of his court hearing. He was released following the hearing.
Ghafoor is also accused in another case before the court concerning possession and consumption of alcohol and cannabis.
A total of 10 people were taken into police custody on 16 November 2012 after police raided and searched Hondaidhoo with a court warrant. Officers alleged they found large amounts of suspected drugs and alcohol upon searching the island.
On 22 August 2013, criminal court media official Ahmed Mohamed Manik confirmed the PG had charged MDP MP Abdulla Jabir, Ghafoor, and Jadhulla Jameel with smuggling alcohol into the country and consuming it, as well as possession of cannabis and objecting to urine testing.
Former President Mohamed Nasheed’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair and his wife Mariyam Faiza were also charged for objecting to take urine tests, said Manik.
Two Sri Lankan nationals named Raj Mohan and Anoor Bandaranayk, as well as a Bangladeshi named Suhail Rana, were also taken into custody following the island raid. Their cases have not been filed at the Prosecutor General’s (PG) Office.
According to the Drug Act, Sections 123(a), 161(a), and 161(b), any person arrested on suspicion of having abused alcohol or narcotics has an obligation to comply with police requests for routine urine examination by promptly providing urine samples, and failure to comply is a criminal offence punishable by a one year jail sentence.
Additionally, the son of Nasheed’s former special envoy, Mohamed Hamdhoon Zaki, has been charged for trafficking illegal drugs into the country – the penalty for which is 25 years and a fine of up to MVR 10 million (US$650,000).
(0)Dislikes(0)The customs had seized 104 packets containing suspected illegal drugs from the airport.
According to local media, the drugs were stored inside the body of a man who arrived to Maldives from Trivandrum, India.
The media reported that the man was taken to Indira Gandi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) to take the drugs out of his body.
The drugs were handed to police, who have been looking for one more person involved in the case, local media reported.
(0)Dislikes(0)Police have launched an investigation into an incident that occurred in Vilimale’ where a one month baby was found dead.
“Police were informed of the death of a baby and we are investigating the case,” a police media official told Minivan News, before declining to provide further information.
However, the official did say that police were not investigating the murder of a baby, as reported by some media outlets, but was investigating the death of a baby in Vilimale’.
Speaking to Minivan News today Director of Vilimale’ health centre, Ahmed Zahir, said that the dead body was brought to the health centre at 2:20pm yesterday.
“It was a female and one month old,” he said. “The baby was bleeding from her nose and mouth when it was brought to the health centre.”
He said the baby was then taken to Male’ after examining at the health centre.
“The baby’s mother and father was arrested as far as I am concerned,’’ he said, adding that he did not have further information on the incident.
According to local media, the incident occurred yesterday (24 March 2013) in Vilimale’, the fifth ward of Male’ city.
People who had witnessed the baby being carried to the health centre have told local newspapers that the baby was bleeding from the nose and mouth and that parts of the infant’s body were swollen in blue colour.
The papers reported that the mother of the baby had told the neighbours that the baby died after she accidentally crushed it under her body.
Sun Online quoted a member of mother’s family as saying that they knew about the incident when the baby’s mother told them the baby was dead yesterday afternoon.
The family also told the paper that the baby’s body was very hard when they touched it before it was taken to the health centre.
They also told the paper that the family members overheard the couple arguing the night before.
According to the paper, the baby was the couple’s first child and both the mother and father have previous drug related offences recorded with the police.
The corpse of a premature baby boy was discovered in Vilimale’ in May 2011, concealed inside a Coast Milk tin.
At the time police arrested a 30 year-old woman from Noonu Atoll who was the suspected mother of the baby, and a 24 year-old woman from Kaafu Atoll who was alleged to have assisted her deliver the baby prematurely.
(0)Dislikes(0)Police have forwarded the names of six Maldivian and six Indian nationals to the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) in connection to the smuggling of nine kilograms of illegal drugs into the country in November 2012 on a cargo boat named Ms Silver Cloud.
In a statement issued today, the police identified the six Maldivians as Ali Imran, 45, of Mahchangolhi Coconut House; Ibrahim Shihab, 25, of Villingili; Ilyas Ahmed, 29, of Henveiru Kahafathi; Hassan Shimaz, 28, of Mahchangolhi Canovo House; Mohamed Hameed, 27, of Rathafandhoo in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll; and Ahmed Visam, 28, of Maafannu Boiling House.
The Indian nationals were identified as Sahubarali Abubaidha, 54; S.Mariya Anthony Christo, 27; Anthony Selvoraj, 58; D.Silva Paruthipan, 28; A. Kingston, 29; and M. Anantha Kurmar, 23.
The police stated that these men were apprehended on 27 November 2012 in a joint special operation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Department (DED) and the Customs Service.
According to the statement, they were alleged to have been caught in the act of throwing the drugs onto Boduthakurufaanu Magu over the Maldives Ports Limited (MPL) wall, with Maldivian men waiting on Boduthakurufaanu Magu to receive it.
Police said some of them were already leaving the area after receiving the drugs when police arrested them.
Those found on the boat were searched under a warrant, and police discovered 9kg of illegal drugs which tested positive to cannabis and diamorphin.
Police said that all the Maldivians arrested in connection with the case had previous records of theft and drugs recorded at police.
‘Silver Cloud 49’, is a vessel used to carry goods from India to the Maldives. In November last year it came to the Maldives to unload eggs, potatoes, and onions that were to be brought to the Maldives from Tuticorin port in India.
On November 28, 2012, police told the media that one of the six suspects was arrested on allegations that he was the ringleader responsible for trafficking illegal drugs into the Maldives.
Police said the man was arrested while he was inside a room at Kunnumalaage in Maafannu ward.
When police officers searched Kunnumalaage they discovered more than MVR1million, US$11,318, and EUR 39,725, as well as currencies of 11 other nations, police said.
Police at the time searched other houses in connection with the case including coconut House in Mahchangolhi Ward and Moonlight View in Galolhu Ward.
According to police, officers discovered a further MVR134,050, US$2,200, and tools used to pack drugs in Coconut House.
The police also released the video footage of the operation.
Deputy Police Commissioner Hussain Waheed at the time tweeted that the street value of the drugs discovered during the operation would reach over MVR 10million (US$648,000).
(0)Dislikes(0)Police have arrested two expatriates who were in possession of 31 packets of illegal narcotics.
They said the two arrested were one Indian national and one Bangladesh national aged 24 and 27, respectively.
When police searched their bodies’ officers discovered stolen motorbike keys, money, two screw drivers, and medicine.
The Drug Enforcement Department is further investigating the case.
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