Police: Legal revision required to counter trafficking of new drugs

Head of Drug Enforcement, Chief Superintendent Ahmed Shakir, stressed the urgent need to update the Drug Act on Wednesday, saying that current law does not accommodate action against the trafficking of new types of drugs that have emerged in recent years.

In a press briefing on Wednesday, Shakir said the Drug Act was enacted in 2011, and prohibits total 139 types of drugs.

He said that the law does not permit authorities to take action against the trafficking of new types of drugs that aren’t declared on the Act.

Shakir said that eight types of new drugs have been trafficked into the Maldives since the Drug Act’s enactment.

“But, despite the trafficking of eight new types of drugs, we were unable to work within this legal framework the drugs aren’t on the schedule [in the Drug Act],” he said.

He added that the eight drugs in question are considered drugs by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The police have searched 907 individuals in drug operations this year, and arrested 34 Maldivians. Meanwhile 33 foreign nationals arrested in drug cases have been handed over to Maldives Immigration for deportation.