Police: 144kg of drugs seized in seven months; over 1,800 drug-related arrests

Maldives Police Service, on Tuesday, revealed that its counter-narcotics operations over the past seven months have yielded in the seizure of over 144 kilograms of drugs and the arrest of over 1,800 individuals across the country.

The Police disclosed the details of operations conducted between January and August of this year during a press conference held to brief the public regarding its counter-narcotic efforts.

Speaking during the press conference, Superintendent of Police Ahmed Muslim, Head of Drug Enforcement Department, detailed that authorities conducted more than 1,140 counter-narcotics operations nationwide during this period, averaging five operations per day. These included more than 530 operations in the Greater Malé Area, 281 in the Southern Police Division, and 329 in the Northern Police Division.

A total of 1,875 individuals were arrested in connection with drug-related offenses, averaging eight arrests per day. Of these, more than 760 arrests were made in the Malé region, over 530 in the South, and more than 570 in the North. The Police also stopped and searched 23,249 individuals suspected of involvement in drug-related activities across various locations.

The crackdown also included searches of more than 7,300 locations suspected of being used for drug consumption or distribution. Of these, 6,779 locations were searched in the Malé area, 296 in the Southern Division, and 234 in the Northern Division.

In terms of the volume of narcotics seized, the Police confiscated more than 137.8 kilograms in the Malé region, over 3 kilograms in the South, and 3.4 kilograms in the North.

Furthermore, authorities seized a total of 1,856 bottles of alcohol across the Maldives during the period, including 1,768 bottles intercepted in the Malé area, 60 in the South, and 28 in the North.

Over the past seven months, the Police investigated a total of 1,533 drug-related cases, comprising 560 cases in the Malé region, 505 in the South, and 468 in the North.

Of the 560 cases investigated in the Malé region, 343 have been fully concluded and forwarded to the Prosecutor General’s Office for criminal charges.