The president's claim that gangs "no longer exist" is a dangerous illusion

I say this not as an observer, but as someone who has worked at the heart of policing. For more than twenty years, gangs and organised criminal groups have shaped the criminal and social fabric of our urban centres. To suggest they have vanished is not only inaccurate; it creates a dangerous illusion of safety.

The world offers sobering examples of what happens when political leaders minimise security threats. Jamaica’s political denial in the 1970s allowed armed groups to expand beyond control. Sri Lanka’s reluctance to acknowledge the depth of its narcotics networks gave rise to internationally connected criminal syndicates. Even in the UK, Glasgow’s gang crisis worsened during years of political inattention until the Violence Reduction Unit reframed it as a public health emergency.

The lesson is consistent: when leaders deny the existence of organised crime, criminal groups interpret it as weakness. They reorganise, expand, and embed themselves more deeply. Denial becomes an accelerant.

Maldives’ gang culture is not a myth nor an exaggeration. It is a phenomenon documented extensively by researchers, journalists, security practitioners, and even by the state’s own institutions.

Over the past two decades, our communities have witnessed waves of fatal stabbings, reprisal murders, large-scale narcotics trafficking, neighbourhood-based rivalries, and a pattern of violence so entrenched that it has shaped the perception of safety in Malé and Hulhumalé. The families of victims know this reality intimately. So do the police officers who for years responded to clashes, armed confrontations, territorial disputes, and large-scale disorder with limited resources and, often, at personal risk.

These incidents did not dissolve with the passage of time, nor through administrative optimism.

In August 2025, the government put in to force Act Number 7/2025 on Suppressing Gangs and Organised Crime, a wide-ranging law defining gang membership, symbols, recruitment, financing, and participation. While legislative clarity is necessary, it is not, on its own, evidence that gangs have ceased to exist.

Organised crime is sustained not merely by legal gaps, but by social, economic, and political structures. It thrives in environments with:

No Act, however well-intentioned, can instantly dismantle networks that have taken twenty years to evolve.

Maldivian gangs do not resemble stereotypical street groups. They are complex social systems built around neighbourhood identity, informal welfare, narco-economies, territorial influence, and political proximity. Many maintain multi-generational membership. Some operate as de facto micro-enterprises; others interface with political actors during election cycles.

  

Mohamed Hameed served as the commissioner of police from 2019 to 2023.