Four arrested in cigarette disappearance sent to jail

The Criminal Court has sentenced the four people who were arrested Wednesday night 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 to jail.

The four individuals were taken to court Thursday afternoon for sentencing.

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).

As per police, the cigarettes that went missing from the MPL Hulhumale' port were brought under Saudi Arabia’s Binladin Group's name. The two 40 foot containers were initially found among a plywood shipment at the Hulhumale' International Terminal on 26th April 2024. The four aforementioned individuals were accused of masterminding and running the operation.

Authorities told the media last night that 12 people have been placed under a travel ban due to the investigation.

As per MPL, six MPL employees have been suspended in relation to the disappearance of 13.6 million cigarettes. They also said they will also bolster their operation systems and port security.

Police stated that the investigation is still ongoing and will release more details as the investigation moves forward.

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. Customs found out that the 13.6 million cigarettes were missing from both containers on 8th October. Police began investigating the matter from then onwards.

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.