Expats arrested for illegal currency exchange

Maldives Immigration has apprehended seven expatriates for suspected involvement in illegally exchanging foreign currency.

Immigration issued a statement confirming the authority conducted a special operation on March 09th, as part of the Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology's policies.

The authority launched a surveillance operation to identify foreign currency exchangers operating illegally, specifically near the Bank of Maldives (BML) ATM Center in Maafannu.

Immigration's Risk Intelligence and Legal Affairs division and Enforcement and Compliance division carried out the joint-operation, apprehending the seven expatriates.

The authority added the suspects include those residing in the Maldives without valid visa documents, and those working outside of the permitted employment fields.

Additionally, some of the suspects are involved in various criminal offenses, Immigration added.