Two foreigners detained for 20 days in drug trafficking case

The Criminal Court has ordered for two foreign nationals accused of trafficking drugs into the Maldives to be detained for 20 days.

The two suspects arrested in the case are:

• Zahid Mohamed, 24, Pakistan
• Rajbanshi Chhatra Bahadur, 39, Nepal

They were presented before the Criminal Court for their remand hearing on Friday. The court ordered for both suspects to be remanded in custody of the police for 20 days.

Of the two suspects, Zahid is accused of smuggling 60 bullets of drugs into the Maldives by ingesting it. According to the police, Zahid confessed to ingesting the bullets, but claimed he did not know it was drugs. He also claimed to have been coerced into ingesting the drugs.

The police told the court that the quantity of drugs seized in the case meet the minimum standard for drug trafficking charges.

Investigators also believe the case involves additional suspects, and was part of an organized drug trafficking racket.

Meanwhile, Rajbanshi is believed to have hidden the drugs. The police told the court that when questioned regarding whether the drugs one of the suspects handed over for safekeeping was, he showed the police a bag and said the drugs where inside the bag.

Judge Aishath Nuzuha opinioned that given the case has been accepted by the Prosecutor General’s Office, it is in the best interest to make a decision regarding holding the suspects in jail pending the outcome of their trial once formal charges are filed with the court.