Maldives Police Service (MPS) have launched a special operation dubbed “Nimey 19” which roughly translates to “ending 19”, in time for the new year.

A special operation began in capital city Malé 23 December onwards and will proceed till 4 January 2020, said police.

Officers will patrol the entirety of the Greater Malé Region during the operation which aims to crackdown on possible cases of drug-smuggling in time for new years celebration. Police also said that officers will use breathalyzers on random individuals and conduct searches on vehicles as well.

Further, officers will also conduct raids in places where groups gather, as well as the Sinamalé Bridge region.

With this being revealed, officers have been cracking down drug cases since the beginning of December, with officers even having discovered several “secret drug cafés” where users attained “drug services” under café procedure.

Throughout the raid, officers arrested 33 individuals, minors included. The operation will see strict action taken on space owners who give consent to such operations being carried out and are ignorant despite being aware of such practices, revealed police who have since warned of action as mandated under law.

Each year, officers are extra watchful towards New Years as such cases usually arise during celebrations.