Police: Threat level of gangs low at present

Maldives Police Service states threat level of gangs in the Maldives is much lower at present than in previous years.

Speaking at a program broadcasted by state media PSM on Wednesday night, Head of Gang Crimes, Superintendent of Police Ali Arif attributed the decrease in gang crimes to efforts being undertaken by Maldives Police Service in collaboration with other relevant authorities.

He underscored that serial gang fights involving sharp-edged weapons, putting people's lives in danger, were widespread around 2012 and 2013. While some of these clashes resulted in fatalities, children were also among the victims, he added.

Nevertheless, Arif said such dangerous gang fights have been stopped in recent years: something which he attributed to the hard work being undertaken by the Police.

“Our highest priority is to stop crime from happening. However, there are still times they commit crimes,” he noted.

Inspector of Police Waggaas Shareef who also spoke during the program noted combatting gang crimes was allocated high priority in the Strategic Action Plan 2024-2028 and the strategic action plan formulated for the five years before that. These plans, he added, outlined key measures with the direct involvement of the Police to prevent gang crimes.

He detailed that Police, in collaboration with Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF), had carried out a special operation in January 2022, which saw officers active at locations where gang members usually hang around.

“We checked these areas, or otherwise, gang hotspots, as a daily routine task, during which I note that we have intercepted individuals whose actions create fear among the public in order to ensure they are safe spaces,” he said.

In this regard, he detailed that information of individuals hanging around in such areas is collected. Meanwhile, any person showing suspicious behavior is searched and dealt with accordingly.

Waggaas said a lot of people were questioned as part of this operation.