Commissioner General of Customs Yoosuf Maniu Mohamed has confirmed that the Maldives Customs Service will be acquiring drones, from the United States and China, to be used for border monitoring.
Briefing the Parliament Committee on National Security Services (241 Committee) on agency operations, Mohamed on Tuesday outlined that Customs does not currently have the full capacity to manage the border and monitor vessels entering the country.
“We are bringing drones from the United States and China. We need drones. There is no way for us to monitor these vessels coming from abroad,” he said.
Customs had traditionally relied on Coast Guard vessels, with the assistance of the MNDF, to stop and search vessels, he said.
In addition to the drones, a specialised 85-foot vessel, provided by Japan, will complement Customs’ monitoring and enforcement efforts, Mohamed said. The drones will be delivered next year; two from China and one from the United States, he said.
When queried by Committee Member and Member of Parliament for Hulhudhoo, Mohamed Shahid, on whether customs could not use the drones currently used by the MNDF, Mohamed said that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) had already been signed with the MNDF Air Corps for collaboration between the agencies — the Customs drones would be used in collaboration with the MNDF whereby the collective number of drones will increase.
While Customs did not specify whether the drones were acquired through grant aid or through state finances, Mohamed underscored that the decision to work with the MNDF was motivated by the need to avoid duplicating state expenditure.
