New Measures To “Reduce” Drug Smuggling Into Maafushi

New measures will help prevent drugs from being brought into Maafushi, the country’s largest prison, the Home Ministry says, while at the same time admitting substantial security gaps have allowed drug smuggling to flourish in the past.

Deputy Home Minister Abdulla Waheed said that the prisoners had been able to “do whatever they wanted” and narcotics control had not been upheld.

And whilst reports suggest that guards bring drugs into Maafushi, Waheed says they are not checked when they enter and leave the prison.

“No Control”

Maafushi jail – which holds around 600 inmates, the majority of whom are convicted of drug offences – has been subject to consistent criticism for turning a blind eye to the internal drugs problem.

And Waheed told Minivan News that whilst trafficking had been “reduced”, there were problems last year due to a lack of training for prison security staff.

The guards “couldn’t do anything about it [the drugs] or anything else” because “a gang” had been in charge, he explained, although he could not specify the number of prisoners in the gang.

When asked how drugs were being brought in, Waheed said that they could have been brought in by prisoners after visits to Malé for medical treatment, or they might have been thrown over the wall.

He said the new measures consisted of further training for prison staff.

Screening

Waheed admitted that despite a screening procedure being in place for prisoners, this had not been effective because of a lack of staff training.

A prison officer at Maafushi, who wished to remain anonymous, told Minivan News today that though the prison carries out body checks, electronic scanners are not used – so prisoners can transport drugs within their bodies.

And meanwhile there is no checking facility for Maafushi staff upon entry, so drug smuggling by guards could go undetected.

One man, whose brother is imprisoned at Maafushi and who also wished to remain anonymous, said a uniformed prison officer had come to his house in Malé to demand money owed by the brother, who he believed was buying drugs in jail.

The same individual added that he had seen his brother during visiting time and that he had been visibly suffering withdrawal symptoms, despite having been incarcarated for over a year.

Criminalisation of Drugs

In June 2007, 450 Maafushi inmates went on hunger strike over conditions in the jail and the lack of treatment for drug addicts.

Whilst drug-related arrests have risen dramatically over the past five years, rather than directing money into drug rehabilitation – currently unavailable in prisons – the government now plans to build three more prisons to combat overcrowding.

In June 2007, UN legal expert Dr Leandro Despouy said that “the criminalisation [of addiction] has proved unsuccessful.”

The government first acknowledged a lack of rehabilitation services in 2003, but has failed to uphold pledges since then to implement effective programmes.