Maldives Police Service (MPS) has arrested a Maldivian with close ties to the ISIS terrorist organisation.
In a tweet announcing the arrest, Commissioner of Police Mohamed Hameed said a 30-year-old Maldivian male was arrested on January 6 in a joint operation involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), authorities from two European Union nations, and MPS. He said the individual arrested is alleged of being a prominent operative associated with ISIS.
He said the individual arrested in the case was involved in running its media campaigns, propagating extremism, and more specifically, calling for the perpetration of acts of terror on European soil and to harm its leaders. He revealed it was found that he had been conducting activities for ISIS since 2015 whilst living in the Maldives.
MPS expressed the case is being treated as a major terrorism investigation and conducted jointly with FBI and authorities of two European Union nations.