UK arrival held with 70g of cannabis seeds in Maldives
Maldives Customs stopped a UK national who arrived on 6 March 2022 and found 70.12 grams of cannabis seeds in his luggage. The suspect and the seizure were handed to police custody for investigation.
Maldives Customs Service seized drugs from a United Kingdom national who arrived
in the Maldives.[1]The traveller arrived on 6 March and was flagged for
suspicious behaviour before officers searched his luggage.[1]
Testing of the suspected substances was positive for cannabis.[1]Customs said
officers found 30.9 grams of cannabis seeds and 40.3 grams of cannabis herbal
seeds in his luggage, with a total weight of 70.12 grams.[1]
The suspect and the drugs were placed in police custody.[1]Customs said it
had set up a tactical team for special operations in January to strengthen
efforts against drug imports.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Arrested
1
Cannabis
70.12 g
Agency
Maldives Customs Service
Agency type
Customs, Police
Cannabis
Seeds (70.12 g)
Activity
Smuggling
Setting
Land border
Case stage
Under investigation
Sources
Avasavas.mvDrugs seized from UK national arriving in the Maldives
Open questions the AI reported
The suspect's name, age, flight and country of departure were not reported.
The two component weights add to 71.2 grams while Customs gives the total as 70.12 grams; the report keeps the stated total.
No charges, remand period or court outcome were reported beyond police custody.
The separate March 1 postal seizure and the sea-operation seizure mentioned in the same article are different events left out here.
Maldives Customs seized 3.2 kg of cannabis from a suspicious postal package inspected on Saturday 15 August 2026. No arrests were reported, and Customs warned the public against collecting suspicious parcels for others.
Customs officers inspecting sea freight on 25 December 2025 found more than 40 kg of hashish oil hidden in bottles labelled as chocolate syrup. Police estimated the street value at over MVR 30 million and arrested two men, aged 47 and 57, on 26 and 27 December; both were remanded for five days. Hashish oil is a cannabis concentrate and is treated as a Schedule 1 drug.
Operation Alimagu began on 13 November 2025 with about 500 officers raiding 110 places on 39 islands; police said 110 people were arrested on the first day. By late December they had searched 166 locations and nine vessels, arrested 193 people, and seized 30.63 kg of drugs and 182 bottles of alcohol.
Maldives Customs seized 9 kg of mixed drugs—identified as synthetic cathinone, heroin, cannabis and ecstasy—from a 65-year-old Maldivian man, an air cargo shipment and a post package, and handed the man to police for further investigation. The cannabis component is not broken out separately from the combined total.
