We have to establish officers in foreign countries to stop the import of drugs: Commissioner Riyaz

Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz has said that the Maldives need to station police officers in foreign countries in order to quell the import of drugs to the country.

In an interview to the police media, Commissioner Riyaz said that the drug trafficking to the Maldives is largely conducted through connections in neighbouring countries and that it is an operational challenge to collect the necessary information, without having any presence in those cities.

The Commissioner said that they have now decided to establish Maldives police officers in the neighouring counties of Sri Lanka and India.

“We have to think strategically to prevent drugs from entering the country. This trade is not only conducted by Maldivians. Its done in connection to foreigners. They do it while stationed in India or Sri Lanka, so police have to be stationed in Sri Lanka and India to stop this, to carry out important operations together with their law enforcement agencies,” Commissioner Riyaz said.

Speaking of the challenges to combating drug trafficking in the Maldives, Commissioner Riyaz noted that the country lacks a proper drug rehabilitation mechanism and that the state needs to radically increase the level and quality of treatment to drug addicts to subsequently address the issue of trafficking.

He said that Maldives has seen a culture of reducing the sentences of drug addicts without subjecting them to proper rehabilitation programs. He said that regardless of addiction, those who commit crimes should face their due punishments and that the state needs to focus on way to rehabilitate them and revive them back into society.

“We should not try to find ways to release them as soon as they commit a crime. Instead, we should try to rehabilitate them,” Commissioner Riyaz said.

The Commissioner also said that drug related laws also need to be amended.