Criminal Court on Tuesday sentenced a Ghanaian man to 12 years in prison for smuggling 108 cocaine pellets into the Maldives.

Appiah James, who arrived in the Maldives on June 12 via a Qatar Airways flight, was flagged during a screening that detected suspicious cavities in his body. He was taken to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), where medical scans confirmed the presence of foreign objects. Upon investigation, authorities discovered 108 pellets in his body, containing a total of 1.4 kilograms of cocaine.

James pled guilty to drug smuggling charges and entered into a plea agreement with the state.

As part of the agreement, he was sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison and fined MVR 100,000. Due to the four months and 10 days he had already spent in custody during the investigation, his final sentence was reduced to 12 years, one month, and 20 days, along with the fine.