Fifth suspect in 13M cigarette heist jailed pending trial’s end

A fifth suspect arrested on Tuesday night in connection to the theft of two containers of smuggled cigarettes from the Hulhumale’ seaport has been remanded in jail pending the outcome of his trial.

The two containers containing 13.6 million sticks of cigarettes smuggled into the Maldives were seized by Maldives Customs Service on April 26, and kept at the seaport in Hulhumale’, a facility managed by the Maldives Ports Limited (MPL). The theft of the cigarettes was discovered on October 8.

Hassan Abdul Rahman, 52, Link, K. Thulusdhoo, was arrested in connection to the case sometime Tuesday night.

He was presented at court for his remand hearing on Wednesday.

According to a police spokesperson, the court ordered for him to he held in a custodial jail pending the outcome of his trial.

Abdul Rahman’s arrest brings the total number of suspects arrested in the case to five.

The four other suspects, including two business magnates who the police believe funded the heist, were all detained on October 14.

They are:

• Ahmed Arif (Aattey), 61, the owner of Lotus
• Mohamed Waheed (Dhigali), 65, the owner of Apollo Holdings
• Zivar Ismail, 40, a high-ranking Customs official
• Muaz Ali, 48, a former Customs official who now works as the general manager for engineering and projects at Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO)

On October 15, the Criminal Court remanded all four in custody of the police; Arif and for 15 days, Waheed for 10 days, and Muaz for five.

On Monday, Muaz, who, along with Zivar have been suspended from their jobs at government companies, had his remand extended by another 10 days.

Meanwhile, the original remand period of the other three suspects has yet to expire.

In the message announcing the fifth arrest, the police also said they recovered parts of the two stolen containers from the industrial island of Thilafushi on October 19.

The police have also imposed travel ban on 12 individuals and searched multiple vessels and other properties as they investigate the case.

Meanwhile, both the MPL and Customs have suspended multiple employees as they conduct internal investigations into the case. The MPL has also launched a security audit at both the Hulhumale’ Terminal and the Male’ Commercial Port to reinforce security at the facilities.