The order was made because of protocol breaches in accessing the bonded warehouse.
The owner of a large amount of cigarettes stores in a bonded warehouse established within a house in Malé City has been ordered to MVR 40 million after the tobacco products went missing, said Minister of Homeland Security and Technology Ali Ihusan today.
Ihusan detailed that Customs ordered the owner of the cigarette cartons to pay the sum.
“That includes customs duties and penalties,” he said.
Ihusan said the owner was ordered to pay the penalty because it is prohibited to take anything out of the bonded warehouse without informing Customs.
He further said that bonded warehouses built inside of houses have two locks; one key held by customs and the other in the hands of the person responsible for the bonded warehouse. Because of this, Police have also been notified to investigate how the bonded warehouse was accessed without the knowledge of Maldives Customs Service, he also confirmed.
"The place should be opened with both parties present. So, police are looking into how this policy was breached," he said.
With the issue surfacing, Customs has banned the operation of customs bonded warehouses in private homes.
“We have also ordered the closure of existing bonded warehouses in houses,” said Ihusan, the Minister who oversees the operations of Customs.
Since the incident, the government has decided that bonded warehouses can only operate in areas under full customs control.
Sign In
