Friday
22nd Nov 2024
Dhivehi Edition
Police Commissioner Mohamed "MC" Hameed
Commissioner of Police Mohamed Hameed has claimed that the “India Out” movement was funded by drug traffickers.
Speaking to the Parliament Committee on National Security Services (also known as the 241 Committee), Commissioner Hameed said that the heads of drug trafficking gangs have been observed to be involved with the “India Out” movement.
He said that the Maldives has had the problem of drugs for a half-century, and he claimed that a neighbour country had been very helpful in the effort to solve that problem.
He said that co-operation of all parties lead to the seizure of large quantities of drugs; such seizures were not something these drug lords would want or would be pleased with, he said.
Hameed said that the efforts to include drug lords in the “India Out” movement had been observed. He also claimed that drug lords who had earned the most revenue from drug trafficking were associated with 10 gangs that operated in Malé City.
The efforts to involve these drug lords in the “India Out” movement had been observed, and the two political parties that ran the movement had been notified, he said. He said that both political parties had claimed that such an involvement would not be accommodated.
He said that 9 tonnes of drugs had recently been seized. He said that despite this, it was known that a large quantity of drugs had been smuggled into the country but had gotten past law enforcement authorities.
Hameed further stated that religious scholars were another group who were involved in the “India Out” movement.
The recent intensification of the “India Out” movement had lead to the government issuing several contradictory statements in attempts to discredit the movement. The government had previously claimed that the movement’s objective was to hinder the government’s efforts against drug trafficking; the government had failed to provide any evidence for this.