A taxi driver found to have aided and abetted crimes committed by those running the 'Jazeera' tagged telegram channels and group has been arrested.
In March, Police arrested two individuals for running illegal trades via telegram channels and groups titled 'Jazeera', where they were conducting drug selling, prostitution and other illegal transactions.
In a press conference held on 17th March, Police revealed that a dedicated taxi used for the provision of prostitution services had been discovered through the investigation.
A Police Media Official confirmed that a 60 year old Maldivian man has been arrested on March 30 in relation to this case.
The official confirmed that the man has been remanded in custody for a period of 15 days.
Mihaaru reports that the most recent arrest in this case is that of the taxi driver involved in conducting the prostitution business.
The initial arrests in the case were of a couple; a 28 year old male and a 39 year old female. One of them has an extensive criminal record.
In the 17th March press conference, Police said that besides the two arrested in relation to organized crime networks being conducted via Telegram channels, there are several other suspects implicated in the case, and amounts of over MVR 2 million had been rolled through the accounts of each of these suspects.
Cyber Police Investigations Officer Inspector of Police Aminath Mohamed said then that although neither of the arrested individuals held any legitimate jobs or did any work to gain earnings, large transactions were regularly conducted through their bank accounts.
When Police seized the channels, which were established in 2023, there were over 7000 subscribers, including both Maldivians and foreigners.
Aminath said that foreigners had been brought in from various countries to work in prostitution. It has been learned that these foreigners are in the country on tourist visas.
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