Tag: rlc

Drug kingpin Shafaz must return from Sri Lanka in May, says Home Minister

Convicted drug kingpin Ibrahim Shafaz Abdul Razzak must return from medical treatment in Sri Lanka by May 20, Home Minister Umar Naseer has said.

Shafaz’s temporary release in early February has garnered controversy with the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) confiscating the passport of an expatriate doctor who signed the medical report recommending that Shafaz be sent abroad for medical treatment.

Shafaz is serving an 18 year prison sentence and was fined MVR75,000 (US$4,860) for drug trafficking in November 2013.

Speaking on Villa TV (VTV), Naseer said Shafaz’s authorized period to stay abroad will expire on May 20 and that the Home Ministry will seek assistance from the Interpol to find any inmates who flee.

Naseer defended the Maldives Correctional Services (MCS), claiming a prisoner will only be sent abroad on the recommendation of two specialist doctors. The MCS would only provide inmates with a temporary travel document instead of a passport, he claimed.

Shafaz has now appealed his 18 year jail term at the High Court.

Commissioner of Prisons Moosa Azim has previously told Minivan News that all due procedures had been followed in Shafaz’s release.

“A medical officer does not have to accompany the inmate. He was allowed to leave under an agreement with his family. Family members will be held accountable for his actions, including failure to return,” Azim told Minivan News at the time.

Shafaz was arrested on June 24, 2011 with 896 grams of heroin from a rented apartment in a building owned by ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives MP Ahmed ‘Redwave’ Saleem.

Former head of the Drug Enforcement Department, Superintendent Mohamed Jinah, told the press at the time that police had raided Henveiru Fashan based on intelligence information gathered in the two-year long ‘Operation Challenge’.

Jinah labeled Shafaz a high-profile drug dealer suspected of smuggling and supplying drugs since 2006.

He claimed that the network had smuggled drugs worth MVR1.3 million (US$84,306) to the Maldives between February and April 2011.

Since the formation of the new government late last year, the Home Ministry has made the combating of illegal drugs its top priority, culminating in the confiscation of a record 24kg of heroin.

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Doctor’s passport held as drug kingpin’s medical release investigated

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has confiscated the passport of an expatriate doctor who signed the medical report recommending that Ibrahim Shafaz Abdul Razzaq be sent abroad for medical treatment.

Shafaz was sentenced to 18 years in prison last November for drug trafficking, but was permitted to leave the country unaccompanied in February. Shortly after his arrival in Sri Lanka, Shafaz asked the High Court to review his sentence.

The ACC has told the local media that the doctor’s passport was held last week after a warrant had been obtained  from the Criminal Court.

Speaking to Minivan News today, President of ACC Hassan Luthfy said that he could not give any information except to confirm that the passport of an expatriate doctor had been held by the commission.

He said that detailed information on the case will be revealed to the media as soon as the commission concludes its investigation.

Commissioner of Prisons Moosa Azim has previously told Minivan News that all due procedures had been followed in allowing Shafaz to leave to get medical treatment.

“A medical officer does not have to accompany the inmate. He was allowed to leave under an agreement with his family. Family members will be held accountable for his actions, including failure to return,” Azim told Minivan News at the time.

Shafaz was arrested on June 24, 2011 with 896 grams of heroin from a rented apartment in a building owned by PPM MP Ahmed ‘Redwave’ Saleem.

Former head of the Drug Enforcement Department, Superintendent Mohamed Jinah, told the press at the time that police had raided Henveiru Fashan based on intelligence information gathered in the two-year long ‘Operation Challenge’.

Jihah labeled Shafaz a high-profile drug dealer suspected of smuggling and supplying drugs since 2006.

He claimed that the network had smuggled drugs worth MVR1.3 million (US$84,306) to the Maldives between February and April 2011.

Since the formation of the new government late last year, the Home Ministry has made the combating of illegal drugs its top priority, culminating in the confiscation of a record 24kg of heroin.

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