Police bust prostitution ring, arrest eight suspects

Three foreign women, four foreign men, and one Maldivian man were arrested last night after the police raided a brothel in Malé.

The police raided the Woodpecker house in the Maafanu ward of the capital around 9:00pm based on intelligence information. The suspects were engaged in prostitution when officers entered the residence, the police said in a statement.

The three foreign women were arrested on charges of prostitution and the two foreign men on suspicion of being their agents.

The two foreign men and the Maldivian man were reportedly customers.

Police officers searched the four rooms of the house and found large amounts of cash in both foreign and local currency as well as pills and other items used for sexual activities.

The police said the serious and organised crime department is investigating the case.

In August 2013, the criminal court sentenced a 64-year-old Maldivian man to four years in prison after finding him guilty of running a brothel and forcing three Thai women into prostitution.

Two Maldivian women and a man were also arrested in April last year on charges of prostitution.

The police said that the two female suspects were aged 29 and 30 and the man was 26-years-old.

The suspects were taken into custody after police raided the Beauty house in Maafannu.

Police officers searched the house and discovered five packets containing illegal narcotics.