Release of 42 kilo drug bust suspects to be submitted to 241 Committee

Vilimale’ MP Ahmed Usham states he intends to submit the actions of the police in the decision by the Prosecutor General’s Office not to pursue charges against two suspects arrested with 42 kilos of drugs from Male’ City in March to the Parliament’s Security Services Committee (241 Committee) for review.

42 kilos of heroin were found hidden under a false flooring in Lovenest, a house in Maafannu district of Male’ City on March 25, following a two-day operation by Drug Enforcement and Counter-Narcotics Intelligence.

Police arrested two suspects in connection to the case. They are:

• Ahmed Hussain, 39, Dhafthar no. 3840
• Abdulla Nasheed, 46, Nooruh, K. Male’

Usham told Sun on Saturday that the allegations against the police by the PGO in the case were serious allegations. And that the lack of dedication of law enforcement agencies would mean that major cases such as drug trafficking would remain unsolved.

Announcing the decision not to pursue charges in the case, PGO’s spokesperson Ahmed Shafeeu said last week that the police, despite having sufficient time and opportunity to file for a search warrant for Lovenest, had searched the property without a warrant.

Shafeeu also said that despite the identity of the owner of the property being known to police, they had searched the property after gaining permission from another person, meaning that the search of the property where the drugs were found was conducted in violation of Article 47 (b) of the Constitution, and Article 149 of Drugs Act.

Shafeeu said there were multiple issues that cast doubt over what took place at the scene of the crime, including lack of paperwork to prove some of the items at the scene that could have been used as evidence were analyzed.

Usham said it was important to get to the bottom of what went wrong in the case.

“241 Committee can investigate this case. It can review it. We need the response of the police to the allegation by the PGO. There are many issues that create questions. All this must be looked into,” he said.

Usham said that failure to investigate such issues would prevent criminals from being served their just punishment.

It’s important to investigate such issues in order to establish a better society, he said.