62-year-old man arrested after 19 drug pellets found concealed inside his body

The Criminal Court has ordered a 62-year-old Maldivian man to remain in custody until the conclusion of his trial after he was arrested on suspicion of smuggling 19 drug pellets concealed inside his body.

The suspect has been identified as Ahmed Naseer, 62, Hazaarumaage, V. Fulidhoo.

During the remand hearing, Judge Ali Nadeem ordered that Naseer’s detention until the legal proceedings are concluded. The court also determined that his arrest had been carried out in accordance with the law.

According to the court order, Naseer was intercepted on suspicion of having ingested illicit substances. A subsequent medical examination and extraction procedure confirmed that 19 pallets containing suspected drugs were concealed inside his body.

Citing the police report, the court stated that the seized substances weighed a total of 427 grams. The court ordered his continued detention, citing sufficient evidence linking him to the alleged offence and the potential risk his release could pose to public safety.

In a separate case, the Maldives Customs Service seized 6.75 kilograms of narcotics yesterday after detecting an attempt to smuggle the drugs into the country through air cargo. The narcotics were discovered concealed inside a shipment. Four expatriates arrested in connection with the case appeared before the Criminal Court today and were remanded in custody.

Additionally, on September 25th, Customs officials arrested two Nepalese passengers arriving from Thailand on suspicion of internally smuggling 1.1 kilograms of narcotics. Following suspicious behavior at the airport, a search uncovered 142 capsules containing drugs concealed inside their bodies. According to Customs, the seized substances comprised 708.2 grams of heroin, 424 grams of cocaine and 51.6 grams of morphine.