The Maldives Police Service (MPS) destroyed a massive batch of illegal tobacco products on Dhoonidhoo island yesterday.
Police said that the items were seized during a raid on an illicit cigarette manufacturing operation on January 30, 2025.
advertisement
advertisement
The raid targeted an apartment-based office in Henveiru, where machinery had allegedly been set up to produce counterfeit cigarettes.
A total of 4,285 cigarette cartons, 232 individual packs, and 93.6 kilograms of raw tobacco were destroyed yesterday.
According to MPS, the items were destroyed under the supervision of a special committee, in accordance with standard operating procedures for handling seized property.
Officers from the Maldives Customs Service seized over 8.5 million illegal cigarettes during a targeted operation at the Malé Commercial Harbour on Sunday. Customs officials reported that an inspection of a shipment labelled as “general cargo” revealed a massive hidden stash totalling 8,527,480 cigarette sticks, which were subsequently taken into custody.
