Australian police arrests Maldivian business tycoon's daughter in law in massive drug case

Chemsi Alexandra Niard, daughter-in-law of Ibrahim Mohamed Didi, owner of SIMDI group of companies, and former Health Minister Mariyam Shakeela, has been arrested in a massive drugs case in Australia.

The 27-year-old Niard is alleged by Western Australia Police to have been the third wheel in a plot to import a kilogram of meth and 84 grams of cocaine into Western Australia from Victoria, and send AUD129,000 (around MVR 1,374,475.39) the other way.

Australian Football League (AFL) star Sam Fisher was also arrested in connection to this case. Niard was arrested last May and is charged with possessing a prohibited weapon, possessing cocaine and meth, possessing drug paraphernalia, possessing stolen or unlawfully obtained property and possession of both meth and cocaine with an intent to sell or supply.

Australian sources reported to TMJ that Didi himself was detained at an airport and questioned several times in the past few months. The sources have also said that Didi himself is suspected to have a hand in the case.

Niard was arrested from Didi’s residence at Applecross, a suburb in Perth, Western Australia. She has already been summoned to court once, with the next appearance scheduled for July.

After reports of the arrest were published on local media, Didi had allegedly placed calls to those media and warned of consequences. The family had also said that Niard and Maiz were no longer married. However, reports have refuted this claim, stating that this was reported in a bid to disassociate from scandal.

Another source reporting to TMJ alledged that Didi himself is closely associated with drug trafficking and money laundering. As such, the source pointed out that all of SIMDI resorts paid their staff in full, while the country was on lockdown. Simdi family declined to comment when questioned regarding these allegations.

Niard is the wife of Maiz Ibrahim and serves as Trade Development Officer at SIMDI. Maiz serves as a director at the company.

While SIMDI is established in the Maldives, Didi and Shakeela spends majority of their time in Australia and they hold Australian citizenship as well.

This is not the first time the family has been accused of dirty business. Shakeela and Didi had close ties to Indian weapons trader Abhishek Verma. Their relationship was heavily scrutinized and commented on locally.

Didi loves to show of his association with notable businesses figures and people in positions of power. Among people in his inner circle includes Captain Rtd. Ibrahim Latheef, who is a senior consultant at Western Australian Police. However Latheef has now removed all the pictures with Didi on social media after the recent drug bust. He is also a close associate of President Ibrahim Mohammed Solih and heavily financed his campaign in 2018.

Didi also has close ties to Parliament Speaker Former President Mohamed Nasheed. An avid user of social media, Didi’s personal Instagram is a directory of culinary exploration, travel, and movers and shakers in business and politics. Shakeela is the Honorary Consult of Belgium in the Maldives, while Didi is the Honorary Consul of Iceland in Maldives.