Man allegedly held hostage by Pakistani drug ring, caught on return to Maldives

Misbah Mohamed, who was allegedly being held captive by a Pakistani drug network as human collateral, has been caught as he was returning to the Maldives.

While police announced his arrest on Friday, Commissioner General of Customs Abdulla Shareef said that he was first flagged by a Customs officer following 'suspicious behavior'.

Speaking on the matter on RaajjeTV’s Fashaairu programme on Saturday, Shareef said that the officer had noticed Misbah -who landed at Velana International Airport with just one carry-on luggage- seemed to be in a rush to be cleared by Immigration.

The officer is to have realized that the man was wanted by police, and Misbah was subsequently arrested and information relayed to relevant authorities.

While Misbah Mohamed was reported missing by his family in April, police after investigations said that he was being held as “human collateral” by a Pakistani drug network.

Misbah is said to have boarded a flight to Dubai with Irufan Thagiyyu, who allegedly operates a large-scale drug trade network in the Maldives, in November last year.

Irufan was arrested for smuggling over 72 kilos of heroin into the Maldives on a fishing boat named ‘Masjaree-2’ in December 2020, a month after leaving the country. Police said the network was holding Misbah hostage until Irufan fulfilled the payments owed to the network.

Misbah denies the allegations, and claims that he has no links to any drug networks.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Maldives is among the top destinations for drug cargoes from neighboring Pakistan.