Maldivian drug dealers arrested in Sri Lanka

A group of people, including four Maldivians, have been arrested in Sri Lanka on suspicion of operating a large scale drug network in Asia.

At a press conference today, Head of Drug Enforcement Department of Maldives Police Service, Superintendent of Police Ahmed Shifan said that the group was arrested in Sri Lanka in a joint operation by Sri Lanka’s Narcotics Bureau and Maldivian police.

Shifan said that the first arrest was of a 25-year-old man, followed by arrests of two people linked to him.

He said that, police also arrested a 25-year-old woman, who was later released as the amount of drugs found in her possession – 100 g cannabis – is not illegal in Sri Lanka.

165g heroin, LKR 125,00, and $10,000 were found in the possession of the three men.

The suspects are known to traffic drugs in Pakistan, Thailand, Hong Kong, and India; and the 25-year-old suspect had since 2012 travelled to these countries under different passports, said Shifan.