A suspect believed to be one of the most notorious drug lords of the Maldives, Arshad Khalid, 28, of Alora, S. Hoadedhdhoo, has been arrested.
Arshad left the country last year after escaping a drug charge against him. Since then, he has been residing in Sri Lanka and has not returned to the Maldives.
At the time, the state charged him due to links to nine kilograms of drugs and MVR 4.2 million that were seized by the police. Late last year, the police seized 119 kg of drugs in another drug operation, linked him to the drugs, and attempted to arrest him. However, he had already left the country by then.
Arshad had been living in Sri Lanka for the past year. He was arrested upon his return to the Maldives on Monday. Prior to traveling to the Maldives, he traveled to Dubai, where he was denied entry and deported to Sri Lanka.
Although Arshad was taken into custody early last night, the police have not yet commented on the incident.
