Court Orders Continued Detention of Lotus Aattey Over Cigarette Container Theft
Four individuals accused in connection with the disappearance of over 13.6 million confiscated cigarettes from Hulhumalé Harbour. | Photo: Police
The Criminal Court has ordered that six individuals, including prominent businessman and Lotus owner Ahmed Arif (Aattey) remain in custody until the conclusion of their ongoing trial over the theft of more than 13.6 million cigarettes from the Hulhumalé harbour.
Among those remanded are former senior Customs officer Muaz Ali, Ziwar Ismail, ship captain Adam Waheed, and two others — Hassan Abdul Rahman and Ahmed Firushan. All six will remain in detention until the trial concludes, following a police request to extend their custody.
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Arif, Muaz, and Ziwar were initially arrested on 15 August and placed under a 15-day remand. On Thursday, the court extended their detention for the duration of the proceedings.
Another businessman implicated in the case, Mohamed Waheed — known as Dhigali and the owner of Apollo Holdings — has also been ordered to remain in custody until the conclusion of his trial. The Criminal Court issued its order on 25 October, after an initial 10-day remand.
Both Arif and Waheed are accused of financing the operation to steal two 40-foot containers containing more than 13.6 million cigarettes from Maldives Ports Limited (MPL) storage at Hulhumalé harbour. The cigarettes, amounting to 1,360 cases with an estimated duty value of MVR 122 million, were originally seized by Customs on 26 April after being discovered hidden inside a shipment of plywood.
The seized shipment had been linked to cargo transported under the Bin Laden Group, the main contractor for the new Velana International Airport terminal project.
According to police, the two containers went missing on 26 April 2025. Parts of the containers were later discovered during a search in Thilafushi on 19 October and have since been seized as evidence.
