The magistrate court in Kulhudhuffushi has issued the life sentence against a man convicted of attempting to smuggle heroin into the northern Maldivian city.
Ali Mohamed, a native of Kulhudhuffushi, was arrested in January 2023 from the north harbor area in Male’ City with 50 grams of heroin or diamorphine.
He was charged with diamorphine trafficking.
On Sunday, the Kulhudhuffushi Magistrate Court found Ali guilty of the charge, and issued a life sentence of 25 years.
Ali had been arrested following information received by Police Intelligence regarding an attempt to smuggle drugs into Kulhudhuffushi.
The police intercepted Ali from the north harbor area, and found 50 grams of heroin inside the pockets of his jeans.
During trial, Ali denied the charge against him. He claimed he was given the package by an “Abdulla”, and that he would have never touched it if he knew it contained drugs.
He also pled with the court for a lesser sentence.
However, the court issued the maximum sentence of life imprisonment and also imposed an MVR 100,000 fine.
The court deducted the five days he spent in remand in connection to the case from his sentence. He therefore has 24 years, 11 months and 24 days left to serve.