Police Investigate Missing Cigarette Cartons at Vilimalé Police Station

The Maldives Police Service has opened an investigation into the disappearance of six cigarette cartons from the Vilimalé Police Station.

The cartons were part of a batch of 32 seized from an expatriate on 23 May after they were allegedly smuggled into the country. Police discovered the six cartons missing on 12 November while preparing to hand the contraband over to the Maldives Customs Service.

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During the inquiry, officers also found that 25 cartons from a separate consignment seized on 23 December last year — and also stored at the Vilimalé station — had gone missing. The matter has been forwarded to the Professional Standards Command, and police said a separate civil case is under way regarding the missing items.

The development comes as authorities continue investigating a wider pattern of discrepancies involving confiscated items. On August, police launched a separate inquiry into the reported loss of USD 30,000 seized in a 2019 case. The discrepancy was identified during an internal audit. Police have not disclosed further details as the investigation remains ongoing.

The missing cartons case also follows a high-value theft reported in April, when 360 cases of cigarettes — amounting to 13.6 million sticks and valued at MVR 122 million — were stolen, along with the two containers storing them, from the Maldives Customs Service site in Hulhumalé. Ten individuals have been arrested, including business figures Ahmed Arif (Aattey), owner of Lotus, and Mohamed Waheed (Dhigali), owner of Apollo Holdings. Other suspects include senior and former Customs officials, as well as employees of MPL.