Police have busted an international drug network operated by a group of Maldivians in Sri Lanka following a two-year long operation.
Police superintendent Ahmed Shifan said three Maldivians were arrested with 165 grams of heroin and a large amount of cash in a joint operation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Department (DED) and the Sri Lankan Narcotics Bureau.
Shifan, head of the DED, said the three were suspected of carrying out large-scale drug trafficking through several countries, including Pakistan, Thailand, China, and India.
The first suspect arrested in the case – a 25-year-old – had travelled to these countries with fake passports numerous times since 2012, Shifan said.
Shifan also said that a Maldivian woman was recently arrested in Sri Lanka with 100 grams of cannabis.
However, the woman has since been released because cannabis is considered a soft drug in Sri Lanka.
