Nine foreigners heavily involved in running a large-scale prostitution ring in the Maldives has been arrested.

The Maldives Immigration said today that they were arrested during a joint inspection conducted by the Immigration and Police this month, cracking down on prostitution rings operating in the city.

Seven foreign women and two foreign men working as agents were arrested in connection with five such cases.

Immigration said five women and one man have been deported and the other three foreigners are being deported soon.

Immigration has conducted special inspections since August and arrested and deported a large number of foreigners who were engaged in prostitution.