The Maldives Police Service (MPS) has uncovered a case of phones and drugs being smuggled into prisons by paying massive amounts of money.

In a press conference hosted on Thursday, Ali Ihusaan, Minister of Homeland Security and Technology, who has been entrusted with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the police institution, revealed details regarding this discovery.

Speaking at the presser, Ihusaan stated that anyone working in a uniformed institution being sold for money will not be tolerated.

The minister noted that efforts were being made to resolve the issue, as phones and drugs are repeatedly being discovered inside prison.

As part of these efforts, Ihusaan said that police intelligence had brought to his attention that such incidents were taking place since three months back, with the involvement of corrections officers.

The minister added that upon receiving these reports, the police intelligence unit had immediately launched a special operation and reported back to the minister with findings.

Speaking at the presser, Assistant Commissioner of Police Abdulla Shareef shed light on some of said findings.

As such, he said that findings so far indicate that 18 correctional employees had unusually large amounts of money deposited in their accounts, with around MVR 24 million deposited to one officer’s account.

Up to MVR 73 million was deposited in the accounts of the 18 employees on multiple occasions.

Several employees of the Maldives Correctional Service have been arrested in connection with the case.

MPS has also given the assurance that the case will be thoroughly probed and the perpetrators would be brought before justice.