Maldives police arrested1153 persons on drug charges in 2010, according to statistics released by the Drug Enforcement Department (DED), a reduction on the 1834 arrests made in 2009.
Police statistics showed that in 2009, 19 persons accused of dealing illegal narcotics on a large scale were arrested, with 10 of the 19 cases were sent to the courts to for trial.
In 2010, 48 ‘large scale’ dealers were arrested and 33 cases were investigated, while 25 of the cases were sent to Prosecutor General’s office.
In additional, during 2010 police seized 3.3 kilograms of heroin, 5.5 kilograms of cannabis and 790 bottles of alcohol, a total street value police claimed was Rf11.2 Million (US$870,000).
Head of DED,Police Superintendent Mohamed Jinah, said that police had reduced the spread of drugs by 50 percent during the last two years.
Last year 7218 persons were searched while 175 police special operations were conducted in Male’. 95 operations were conducted in the islands.