Operation Frontier: Maldives arrests 16 as global scam sweep hits 3,000 suspects

Sixteen people have been arrested in the Maldives under Operation Frontier, a two‑month multinational crackdown on scam networks conducted with ten countries, the Maldives Police Service said Wednesday.

According to police, the operation was carried out in collaboration with Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Macau, Indonesia, Brunei and Canada.

Across the ten participating countries, 3,018 suspects aged between 13 and 85 were arrested, while 7,553 people were investigated in connection with 138,000 scam cases. Authorities also seized 102,000 bank accounts and confiscated more than USD 161 million in cash.

During the same period, the Maldives Police Anti‑Scam Centre investigated 349 scam cases reported by 41 Maldivian officers, involving a total loss of MVR 4.02 million.

MALDIVES POLICE SERVICE PARTICIPATES IN OPERATION FRONTIER+ III: JOINT INTERNATIONAL ANTI-SCAM OPERATION RESULTS IN OVER 3,000 ARRESTS ACROSS TEN JURISDICTIONShttps://t.co/Z4itj2sddd

— Maldives Police (@PoliceMv) May 20, 2026

Police said 490 men and 84 women were questioned in the Maldives, and 16 suspects aged 19 to 48 were arrested.

The operation primarily targeted scams involving e‑commerce, currency exchange, phishing and investment fraud, police said.

Operation Frontier+ was launched in 2024 as a joint initiative between the Maldives, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and Hong Kong to combat transnational scams. The alliance has since expanded to include 14 countries.