News Desk
Police seized over 144 kilograms of drugs and 1,856 bottles of alcohol across the country in the first seven months of 2026, arresting nearly 1,900 suspects in a sweeping enforcement drive. Speaking at a news conference detailed by Drug Enforcement officers on Tuesday, police confirmed they ran 1,141 targeted operations between January 1 and July 31 across Male’ and the atolls. Officers searched over 23,000 individuals and raided more than 7,300 locations, opening 1,533 drug-related cases. Out of those, 634 cases have been forwarded to the Prosecutor General’s Office to weigh formal charges.
A chunk of the massive haul came directly from the Drug Enforcement Department (DED). Investigating 377 cases on its own, the department forwarded 256 of them to prosecutors while confiscating over 137 kilos of narcotics and 845 alcohol bottles—valued at MVR 121.2 million on the street.
DED officers sent 88 percent of their 94 major drug trafficking cases straight to the PG for prosecution. Police units also teamed up with Counter Narcotics Intelligence to execute 260 intelligence-led operations across 17 atolls, resulting in 298 arrests.
Investigators are now following the money trail to dismantle the kingpins financing these networks, with 25 financial investigations underway alongside three major criminal network cases. Addressing concerns over the high numbers, Chief Superintendent Ahmed Muslim clarified that the spike in seizures and arrests does not mean crime is spiraling out of control, but rather reflects aggressive, real-time police operations on the ground. “The numbers show our operational response adapting and stepping up based on context and timing,” Muslim noted.
The crackdown extended beyond local arrests and raids, starting with foreign nationals where 116 foreign nationals caught in drug cases were handed over to Maldives Immigration for deportation.
For addiction support, 37 individuals were transferred to relevant state agencies for treatment. Additionally, police shut down and placed six houses in Male’ under active monitoring after they were identified as drug dens under the 3rd Amendment to the Drugs Act, including M. Gunzar, M. Tharivilage, M. Ameera Manzil, M. Seven House, M. Kandufinige, and M. Land of Garden.
Police leadership emphasized that combining intelligence-backed raids with financial checks is the core strategy to break apart organized supply chains and choke off the drug trade at its roots.