The individuals arrested in connection with the disappearance of cigarettes from the Maldives Customs Service's bonded warehouse have been released.

Police told the media on the 6th of this month that they had begun investigating a case where a pickup truck fled from police on Boduthakurufaanu Magu after abandoning three black bags containing a large number of cigarette cartons on the street.

Police said that more than 221 cigarette cartons were found in those bags. Three Bangladeshi nationals were arrested in connection with the case: Rezaul Haque (39), MD Mannan Mondol (43), and Muhammad Sulaiman (42).

These three individuals are in the Maldives on valid visas in accordance with immigration laws and are working for a company called "Senior International Private Limited."

When presented to court on the 10th of this month for a detention hearing, police stated that the investigation had revealed that the cigarettes in their possession were items missing from a warehouse used by Customs as a bonded warehouse, and that the case was being investigated as a serious criminal matter matter.

When the police brought them to court last Friday for a detention review, the court ordered their release after confiscating their passports.

The court ordered their release because, although they were suspected of possessing stolen cigarettes, no one had reported any missing cigarettes to the police even after the suspects had been in custody for more than 10 days.