72kg Drug Case Dismissed Over MVR 300 Fee

The High Court has dismissed the state's appeal in a significant narcotics trafficking case involving 72 kilograms of drugs found aboard the tuna fishing vessel 'Masjaree 2.' The appeal was rejected because the MVR 300 registration fee was not paid by the deadline. The case dates back to December 2020, when charges were initially filed against 10 individuals. The Criminal Court eventually tried only three men—Irfan Thagiyyu, Ahmed Naseer, and Mohamed Akram—who were all acquitted in January due to multiple evidentiary shortcomings. Following the acquittal, the Prosecutor General's Office filed an appeal in April. However, High Court Registrar Mariyam Hoorshida formally notified the PG's office that the appeal would not be accepted because the fee remained unpaid. PG Office spokesperson Ahmed Shafeeu explained that they never received the payment notification through the agreed communication channel. "We later discovered the High Court had sent the email to an employee who was on leave at the time," Shafeeu stated. "That is not the proper procedure." The PG's office plans to request a review of the decision, arguing this is a matter the High Court should reconsider independently. The original acquittal by Criminal Court Judge Ibrahim Ihusan highlighted several critical flaws in the prosecution's case: flawed video analysis that misidentified individuals, unreliable call logs without proper authorization, unverified intelligence reports, inconclusive forensic evidence, and no direct proof linking the boat to drug smuggling despite finding a satellite phone aboard and an empty phone box at one defendant's home. — Source fragments: