Apollo CEO Dhigali, Lotus owner Aattey among arrested

Among the four people that have been accused and arrested in relation to the disappearance of 13.6 million cigarettes that were seized by customs in April last year and held at MPL Hulhumale' port, two of them have been confirmed to be Apollo CEO Mohamed Waheed (Dhigali) and Lotus owner Ahmed Arif (Aattey).

Authorities stated last night that four people have been accused of being key people in masterminding and running the operation. As per the authorities, two businessmen, a senior customs officer and another additional individual were involved.

It has been confirmed by Mihaaru News that the four people are Waheed, Arif, former Senior Superintendent of Customs Muaz Ali (H. New Happiness) and a senior officer of a Customs Department Ziwar Ismail.

Ziwar has been working at the Hulhumale' Port.

Muaz has been accused of seeking bribes for importing 430 cigarette cases, with the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) having been forwarded to the Prosecutor General's (PG) office to charge him this month.

Muaz is currently the General Manager (Engineering Projects) at the Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO).

Authorities told the media last night that 12 people have been placed under a travel ban due to the investigation. They also said that they have checked and approved various vehicles and locations.

The police also said that they were conducting an operation last night regarding the investigation.

"We will release more details as the investigation moves forward," said the police.

Even though four people have been arrested via court order due to the accusation of masterminding the operation, the people who took the cigarettes from the port have not been arrested as of yet.

As per information, more than 13.6 million cigarettes were moved via a marine vehicle from MPL's Hulhumale' Port. Sources have also said that there was an attempt to cover the CCTV from capturing the theft.

Customs stated that the cigarettes were not destroyed at the time, as the investigation into their smuggling was still ongoing. The cigarettes that went missing from the MPL Hulhumale' port were brought under Saudi Arabia’s Binladin Group's name. Two containers were initially found among a plywood shipment at the Hulhumale' International Terminal on 26th April 2024.

Customs stated that the cigarettes went missing last Wednesday night. Police have been investigating the incident since.

The shipment consisted of 1,360 cigarette cases in two 40-foot containers, totaling 13,600,000 cigarettes. This would amount to MVR 122 million in import duty for the state, as per customs.

The containers were initially found among a plywood shipment at the Hulhumale' International Terminal when customs had received information that there was an attempt to smuggle the cigarettes into the country.

As per the Regulation on Packaging and Labeling Tobacco Products, they can only be imported to Maldives after a photo and label that describes its dangers are put onto the packaging. The products can only be imported after the required approval has been obtained. Customs said that the cigarettes that were smuggled under Binladin Group's name are in violation of those regulations.