Maldivian cop with Lanka drug links jailed

Corporal Manaaru Mohamed Shareef, a police officer in the Drugs Enforcement Unit (DEU), was on Sunday sentenced to life for drug dealing and corruption over a 2.1 kilo heroin haul last November.

Manaaru, a police officer for eight years, had confessed to the offence whilst in police custody, but later withdrew his confession, alleging it was forced.

The case involves allegations of a drugs ring with links in Pakistan, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.

Manaaru is the seventh man to receive a life sentence in the case, in which Pakistani citizen Azmath Khan smuggled the narcotics into the Maldives by air.

Khan was caught by police on 15 November, but released, and his movements monitored by police in a sting operation to catch the other suspects.

Judge Ali Rasheed ruled Sunday that Manaaru was guilty of drugs trafficking, which carries a 25-year sentence.

He was also convicted of misusing his position, which carries a one-year sentence, and withholding information from authorities, which carries another year.

Manaaru was taken into custody over the case in November 2007, but police waited two weeks before announcing his arrest.

Assistant state attorney Fazna Ahmed, representing the state in the case, confirmed Manaaru was the only police officer said to have been involved, and that the other suspects in the case had also testified to his involvement.