Bangladeshi National Arrested in Connection to Cigarette Heist, Bringing Total Suspects to 10

The Maldives Police Service has confirmed the arrest of a Bangladeshi national in connection with the theft of two containers of smuggled cigarettes from a seaport in Hulhumalé, raising the total number of suspects in the case to ten.

The two containers, containing 13.6 million sticks of smuggled cigarettes, were seized by the Maldives Customs Service on 26 April and were being stored at Hulhumalé International Port, a facility managed by Maldives Ports Limited (MPL). The theft was reported on 9 October.

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The arrested suspect, 36-year-old Mohamed Alamin Mia, was taken into custody on Wednesday, 12 November. The court has ordered him to remain in jail pending the outcome of the trial.

Among the first individuals arrested were business figures believed to have funded the heist, including Ahmed Arif (Aattey), owner of Lotus, and Mohamed Waheed (Dhigali), owner of Apollo Holdings. The remaining suspects include high-ranking and former Customs officials, employees of MPL, and employees of Apollo Holdings.

Seven of the suspects, including Arif, Waheed, Muaz, Zivar, Firushan, Adam Waheed, and Alamin – remain in jail pending trial as the police continue their investigation.

The police have described the heist as highly organised and well-funded. Investigators allege that the thieves swapped the original containers with identical ones and altered the name and registration number of the boat used in the crime to avoid detection. The containers were reportedly offloaded at the industrial island of K. Thilafushi, where they were destroyed after the cigarettes were removed. Parts of the containers have since been recovered by the authorities.