Five arrested in two separate drug operations

Five individuals have been arrested in two separate drug operations.

The Maldives Police Service (MPS) revealed that both operations were carried out in their ongoing efforts to curb drug trafficking as well as smuggling across the Maldives and crackdown on such networks.

One of the operations was conducted in Nadella island of Gaaf Dhaal atoll after the police institution was tipped off that an island resident was in possession of narcotics.

As such, officers of the Police Intelligence Unit and the Rathafandhoo Police Station, jointly conducted the operation on June 25 during which a 30-year-old Maldivian man was arrested.

He was found in possession of 12 rubber packets filled with suspected narcotics.

Upon being presented to the court for his remand hearing, the man, a local, was given a seven-day remand period.

On June 24, police officers raided two apartments in a building of the congested capital, Malé City following an intel report that drugs were being trafficked.

The operation, conducted jointly by officers from the Drug Enforcement Department and the Police Intelligence Unit, saw officers raiding two apartments in Galolhu-district of the capital and confiscating five rubber packets, 13 pieces of cellophane and an empty film cannister stuffed with suspected narcotics.

Four Maldivian men were arrested in connection with the drug trafficking case, including a 19-year-old, a 20-year-old, a 32-year-old and a 39-year-old.

Upon being presented to the Criminal Court for their remand hearing, three out of the four men were remanded for a period of 10 days. The 32-year-old man was released by the court.