The court has ordered Mohamed Waheed (Dhigali), owner of Apollo, to be remanded until the end of trial in the case of stolen cigarettes from two containers that were seized by Customs and held at the Maldives Ports Limited (MPL) harbor.

Police said that when Waheed was presented to court for the second time to decide on his detention, the court ordered him to be remanded until the end of the trial.

Additionally, police reported that three more individuals were arrested yesterday in connection with this case. With these arrests, the total number of people arrested in this case has risen to 9. The newly arrested individuals are:

  • Ahmed Shaheem (42), Nooralige / HDh. Vaikaradhoo
  • Hussain Saamih (35), Chandhaneege / S. Hithadhoo
  • Ahmed Firushan (35), H. Rumaniya / Male'

The court ordered Shaheem and Saamih to be detained for seven days, and Firushan for five days.

Police had previously reported on the 22nd of this month that parts of the two containers have been found during an operation conducted last Sunday to search areas in Thilafushi.

The case of stolen cigarettes from the two containers at MPL's Hulhumalé International Terminal was reported to the police on the 9th of this month.

Nine people have now been arrested in this case. The first arrests included Dhigali Waheed, Ahmed Arif (owner of Lotus company), Zivaar Ismail (a senior Customs officer working at Hulhumalé Port), and Muaz Ali (a former senior superintendent of Customs and currently suspended General Manager of MIFCO's Engineering and Projects Department).

Later, Hassan Abdur Rahman (52) from K. Thulusdhoo, Link, and Adam Waheed (54) from N. Miladhoo, Kenerige, the captain of the boat that transported the containers, were also arrested.

The stolen goods reportedly consist of 1,360 cases of cigarettes from two 40-foot containers, totaling 13,600,000 cigarette sticks. These cigarettes would have generated over MVR 100 million in import duties for the state.