Mules with MVR 5.5 mil worth drugs arrested

Local authorities have arrested two drug mules and confiscated MVR 5.5 million worth of illicit narcotic substances from them.

Maldives Customs Service reports they arrested two local men, aged 41 years and 21 years. The two had flown in from Thailand to the Maldives last Thursday.

The authority said that they conducted a search on both men after they found the behavior of the two, erratic, and had discovered narcotic substances stored on their bodies as contraband.

Upon preliminary testing, the substances tested positive for heroin and mephedrone and weighed 0.32 kilograms and 2.1 kilograms respectively. The items weighed 2.4 kilograms inclusive of packing, while Customs said the street value of these substances was MVR 5.5 million.

Customs have handed both men and the confiscated substances to Maldives Police Service for further investigation.

Drug smuggling rackets in the Maldives is a prevalent and major criminal activity, with both locals and foreigners arrested for smuggling narcotic substances.