Police seek to have three alleged drug traffickers repatriated to Maldives

Maldives is working on having three Maldivian citizens residing overseas - who the police believe are part of large drug networks involved in trafficking narcotics into the country – repatriated to the Maldives.

At a press briefing on Wednesday morning by Drug Enforcement, Head of Drugs and Substance Abuse Control, Chief Inspector of Police Ahmed Naif said the police have noticed an increase in cases where Maldivians residing in other countries in South East Asia are involved in trafficking drugs into the Maldives.

Naif said that these individuals have been sending drugs into the Maldives via air cargo, sea cargo, most often by concealing it inside electric appliances.

He said that some such individuals have been stopped by police while attempting to flee the country.

The police have identified and are working on having three such individuals repatriated to the Maldives.

“I want to be clear, no matter which corner of the world they are operating from, individuals who commit such felonies, will be brought back to the Maldives and investigated even if it requires getting an Interpol red notice issued,” warned Naif.

He said that such individuals are most often operating out of Thailand or Malaysia, or other South East Asian countries.

“As such, we have noticed that drugs are being smuggled into the country via air cargo and sea cargo, and especially by concealing it inside electric items, kitchen appliances such as ovens, pots and such,” he said.

Naif said that some of the individuals flagged by the police have pre-existing criminal records.

He added that while the police are working on having these individuals repatriated to the Maldives through Interpol, it is a lengthy process involving complex legal formalities.

The police said they were working with international partners to ease the process.