US and China set to gift two drones to Customs

Maldives Customs Service, on Tuesday, said Maldives is set to receive drones which will be utilized to monitor foreign vessels entering Maldivian territory.

Commissioner General of Customs Yoosuf Maniu appeared before the Parliament’s Committee on National Security Service (241 Committee) on Tuesday.

Speaking at the Committee, Maniu underscored that Customs lacked resources to independently monitor vessels entering Maldivian territory.

However, he said Customs anticipates to resolve the issue as the authority is expecting to receive an 85-foot vessel gifted by the Japanese Government and one vessel each, gifted by the governments of China and the United States.

He also revealed that the governments of China and the United States are set to gift two drones to Customs.

“We need drones. There is no way we can monitor foreign vessels entering this area without us physically going there. The other thing is the increase in state expenditure if we send our crew on speedboats as it is a lot of fuel. Instead of this, we are arranging to send the drone to assess the threat and then dispatch vessels if there is a threat,” Maniu said.

Speaking further, he noted Customs had been monitoring vessels entering Maldivian territory with assistance from Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF). Similarly, Maniu said the drones, once received, will be operated in collaboration with MNDF.

The government had recently acquired two drones from Türkiye at a huge expense in order to monitor the Maldivian borders 24 hours.