18 Corrections’ staff suspected of smuggling drugs to prisons; MVR 73M in accounts

An investigation by Maldives Police Service has uncovered that 18 staff of Maldives Correctional Service are suspected of smuggling drugs to prisons, with their bank accounts containing MVR 73 million.

The news was disclosed by Assistant Commissioner of Police, Chief Superintendent Abdulla Shareef while speaking at a home sector press conference on Thursday night.

Home Minister Ali Ihusan, underscoring six of them have resigned from Corrections this year, said action will nevertheless be initiated against them.

It was noted the bank accounts of the six individuals who resigned contained large sums of money despite them not being employed at another job or carrying out a business.

“In this regard, MVR 24 million has been deposited to the accounts of some staff. Through our investigations, we uncovered that approximately MVR 73,600.000 have been deposited to the accounts of these 18 staff starting from January 2023 to date,” Shareef said. 

The money had been transferred from accounts of detainees in prisons and known criminals in Male’ area. 

Eight of the 18 staff have already been detained as per the Police, Shareef added.

He further noted that additional operations were being carried out at K. Maafushi based on information received in the course of this operation.

Speaking further, Minister Ihusan said the circulation of such a large amount of money among several accounts will “surely” be investigated.

“It is possible that an average of MVR 50,000, MVR 10,000 or MVR 15,000 go above the attention of the bank’s threshold. Nevertheless, we will investigate this,” he said.

The Minister added that the current administration has been encouraging strengthening financial investigations since assuming office. He expressed hope to see a reduction in such cases once the feat is achieved.