“Announced vape shipment seized amid import ban contained drugs based on test results”
The minister noted that as per usual procedure, these items were handed over to the police for investigation
Minister of Homeland Security and Technology Ali Ihusaan
The government has stated that they announced that the shipment of vapes confiscated amid preparations to ban the import of vapes into the country contained drugs based on positive results from the first stage of testing.
This was revealed by Minister of Homeland Security and Technology Ali Ihusaan.
Maldives Police Service (MPS) on Tuesday confirmed that the shipment of vapes confiscated amid preparations to ban the import of vapes into the country, did not contain any drugs.
Minister Ihusaan took to social media platform ‘X’ on October 14, claiming that a shipment containing cannabis, a type of drug, had been intercepted by the Maldives Customs Service under the guise of vape oil.
The minister stated that this was one of the main reasons President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu had to make the decision to ban the import of vapes into the island nation.
In response to the minister's post claiming the presence of drugs in the vape shipment, the police on Tuesday revealed that the forensic lab tests conducted on the items in the vape shipment to test for drugs showed negative results.
A photo claimed to be of vape cartridges containing cannabis that were intercepted while being smuggled into the country on May 14, was attached to the minister’s post. He claimed that such drug-containing vapes were being deceptively distributed to school children.
However, the minister said that if anything suspicious is found in items being cleared by customs at the airport, they conduct rapid tests, and if positive, the items are seized and handed over for investigation.
He said that rapid tests were conducted on this vape shipment as well, and these tests showed positive for cannabis.
However, the minister noted that as per usual procedure, these items were handed over to the police for investigation and laboratory tests were conducted.
The minister also emphasized that if the results of these tests and the rapid tests do not match, further confirmatory tests are conducted. He stated that only tests that are confirmed beyond doubt after conducting confirmatory tests are used for investigations.
The minister’s post about drug-containing vape cartridges being imported was made in connection with the president’s post announcing the ban on vapes.
The president’s post read that the import of vaping devices and their individual components into the Maldives would be banned from November 15 and that the use, possession, production, sale, advertising, and free distribution of vaping devices in the Maldives would be banned from December 15. He had also instructed relevant authorities to take all necessary measures to implement this.
