Five arrested in crackdown on prostitution ring

Five people, including three foreigners, have been arrested from the Maldivian capital in a crackdown on an alleged prostitution ring.

The arrests were made in a joint operation by the Special Operations, Anti-Human Trafficking Department, Intelligence Department, and Maldives Immigration Service on Thursday night.

According to police, the operation was carried out based on intel of a prostitution racket being run out of the Alora Spa and Salon in Male’ City.

The suspects arrested in the case include three women of foreign nationality. Two of them are 34 years of age, while the third is 43 years of age.

The police did not specify the nationality of the women.

The police also arrested two Maldivian men – one of them 38 years of age, and the other, 39 years of age.

According to police, some of the suspects were arrested “in a state of undress.”

All five suspects were presented before the Criminal Court for their remand hearing on Friday.

The court ordered for the three women to be remanded in custody of the police for 15 days, and granted 10 days for the 38-year-old man, and five days for the 39-year-old.

The case is under further investigation by the police.