A Sri Lankan national has been convicted of trafficking cannabis and sentenced to life in prison.
The conviction comes against Ranasin Tissa Hevage who was arrested back in March 2020 in a police operation based on intel reports that said that drug was being trafficked at Galolhu Raado ge in Male'.
With the tip, Police raided the house under a court order and found 12 film cans with 306.7694 g of cannabis. Police found more cannabis in the room in which the defendant slept.
While the state had charged the foreigner for trafficking cannabis, the Criminal Court ruled that the charge against him have been proven without a reasonable doubt.
It then gave the defendant a life sentence citing Article 108 Subsection C of the Drugs act. A life sentence in the Maldives is 25 years in jail.
The Criminal Court has also slapped him with a fine of MVR 100,000 and conditioned that the fine should be paid to the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority within one year.
The defendant had spent 2 years, 7 months, and 17 days in prison since his arrest, and the Criminal Court decided that he would have to spend 22 years, 4 months, and 13 days in prison for time served.
