241 Committee meeting on cigarette theft postponed for a week

Parliament’s Committee on National Security Services (241 Committee) has postponed for one week its scheduled meeting with relevant agencies regarding the theft of cigarette containers from Maldives Ports Limited’s (MPL) Hulhumale' port.

The meeting was initially scheduled for Sunday at 2:00 pm., with plans to question senior officials from the Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology, Maldives Police Service, Maldives Customs Service, and MPL.

However, a message circulated to parliament group members stated that the 13th meeting of the 241 Committee has been postponed due to concerns that it could interfere with the ongoing investigation into the case.

The case involves the theft of two 40-foot containers of cigarettes smuggled into the Maldives under the name of Saudi Arabia’s Bin Laden Group on April 26 last year. The containers were discovered missing last week.

Police have so far arrested four individuals, including prominent businessmen Mohamed Waheed (Dhigali), owner of Apollo Holdings, and Ahmed Arif (Aattey), owner of Lotus.

Both are accused of masterminding and orchestrating the theft of 1,360 cases of cigarettes. Waheed was remanded for 10 days, while Arif was remanded for 15 days.

Also arrested were Ziwar Ismail, a senior Customs officer working at the Hulhumalé port, and Muaz Ali, a former Senior Superintendent of Customs now employed in a senior role at MIFCO. Ziwar was remanded for 15 days and Muaz for five days.

Authorities have seized the passports of 12 others, while MPL suspended six employees in connection with the case.

Both Customs and MIFCO have also suspended Ziwar and Muaz following their arrest.

It is estimated that over 13.6 million cigarettes were stolen from the port using a boat. Reports suggest that attempts were made to obscure CCTV footage from capturing the incident.

According to Customs, the import duty on the stolen cigarettes is estimated at MVR 122 million.