Prison drug smuggling racket: Charges requested against 13 officers

The Maldives Correctional Services have concluded their criminal investigation on 13 prison officers for alleged involvement in smuggling drugs into prisons, and submitted the reports to the Prosecutor General’s Office to press criminal charges.

Maldives Police Service earlier arrested multiple prisoners officers who were suspected of smuggling illegal items into prison cells for financial motives. These included nine arrests from K. Maafushi jail and two from K. Kaashidhoo prison, and one more from HA. Utheemu prison.

Police also confirmed that the investigation on all 13 officers has been concluded and subsequently forwarded to PG Office on Saturday to press charges against them.

The law enforcement authority also added that a combined total of MVR 73,600,000 had been transferred to the personal bank accounts of 18 prison officers in 2023. police also said that six out of the 18 officers had resigned from Correctional Service.

The Minister of Homeland Security and Technology, Ali Ihusan, speaking about the matter, assured that though the officers had resigned from their posts in the correctional service, they will face criminal charges.

Ihusan assured that the government will not make any exceptions and will take strict action against all the culpable parties in the case.