Suspects arrested with over 1kg of illicit drugs released by court

Seven suspects arrested with over one kilogram of illicit drugs have been released.

The suspects were arrested following a raid at a house in the Galolhu ward of the capital city on September 14, by the police’s Drug Enforcement Department (DED) following a tip to its Drug Intelligence Department.

The seven arrested are between the ages of 19 and 28.

Noting that the case was filed at court on November 11, police said that the Prosecutor General’s (PG) Office had requested to keep them in remand for the duration of trial. However, they were given a 15-day remand with a remand extension hearing scheduled for November 25. At the hearing, the presiding judge decided to extend their remands by 10 days instead of following through with the request to hold them until the end of trial.

While an additional remand extension hearing was held on December 3, police said that the hearing concluded after scheduling another for the next day following a nearly five-hour court session.

At the hearing held at 6pm on Friday, the court ruled to release the five suspects on the grounds that they do not pose any threats to society.

Two of the suspects were released previously, over lack of evidence of their involvement.

While the suspects were arrested with over one kilogram of illicit drugs, police said that they had confiscated over one-kilogram of cannabis, 108 grams of MDMA as well as seven grams of heroin during the operation.