A 39-year-old Maldivian man, Mohamed Anil, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison by the People’s Court of Khánh Hòa Province in Vietnam for smuggling illicit drugs into the country. Late last month, the court ruled that upon serving his prison term, Anil will be deported back to the Maldives.
The case stems from an incident on December 8 last year, when Anil arrived at Cam Ranh International Airport on a flight from Bangkok, Thailand. During routine baggage screening, customs officers detected several suspicious packages hidden in his luggage and handbag. Laboratory tests confirmed the contents as 1,545.69 grams of controlled substances, comprising 1,067.23 grams of Mephedrone and 478.46 grams of Alpha-PiHP. A drug test conducted on Anil returned a negative result.
Investigations revealed that Anil received the contraband on November 7 at a hotel in Bangkok. He was hired by an acquaintance known as “Afu,” a resident of Pattaya, Thailand, whose full identity and whereabouts remain unknown. Afu instructed Anil to transport six drug packages to Vietnam, promising that someone would contact him upon arrival to receive the shipment.
For carrying out the delivery, Anil was offered a $1,000 fee, along with an advance of $500 to cover his food and travel expenses. Investigators established that Afu personally packed the drugs into Anil’s luggage before Anil flew to Vietnam, where he was apprehended by authorities while clearing immigration.
