As part of the Maldives Police Service (MPS)’s efforts to curb drug trafficking and smuggling, officers have arrested three men in a drug bust in two outlying atolls.

As such, police arrested one from Naifaru island in Lhaviyani atoll and two from Gan island in Laamu atoll.

All three arrested are Maldivians.

Naifaru Police Station revealed that arrested from the island was a 20-year-old a little past 12pm on Friday.

He was arrested following suspicious behavior while officers were patrolling the island. Officers found two rubber packets filled with suspected narcotics after searching him.

The 20-year-old has since been remanded by 12 days by the Naifaru Magistrate Court.

Further, a 23-year-old and a 26-year-old were arrested following an operation conducted by police intelligence jointly with the police stations in Gan island and Fonadhoo island, after a tip-off that they were attempting to smuggle drugs into Gan island via a boat travelling from capital city Malé.

The men were arrested under a court order last Thursday, and officers found a packet filled with suspected narcotics upon searching the package the men were supposed to collect from the boat.

Gan Magistrate Court has remanded the men to be kept at a facility decided by the Ministry of Home Affairs, for a period of 15 days.