Hawks under investigation for smuggling 200 master cartons of Manchester cigarettes

The Hawks - one of the country’s top importers and distributors of fuel – is under investigation by the police for smuggling 200 master cartons of Manchester brand cigarettes.

The shipment of cigarettes had been discovered in one of Hawks’ ships during a raid by Maldives Customs on the company’s boatyard in K. Thilafushi on October 25, 2024.

In a statement on Wednesday, the police said they were investigating the case in collaboration with Customs.

According to the police, the company is suspected of transporting 200 master cartons of Manchester cigarettes on Hawks’ foreign-going vessel The Hawks Javaahiru to the Maldives without including it in the ship’s manifesto on October 24, 2024.

The cartons were offloaded to the jetty of Hawks’ boatyard in Thilafushi and smuggled into the Maldives the next night.

The police said Hawks is under investigation for the crime of smuggling under Article 97 of Maldives Customs Act and the crime of money laundering under Article 53 of the Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism Act.

In a statement in October, Hawks said it has suspended the employees found to have been involved in smuggling the cigarette cartons, without specifying a number. It also insisting that the company had zero involvement in the smuggling racket, and was cooperating fully with the authorities.

The Hawks is one of the country’s biggest importers and distributors of fuel. In its statement, the company said it is not involved in and nor does it have any interest in engaging in the tobacco business.

The incident had come just ahead of the doubling of import duty on cigarettes on November 1, 2024 under a string of legal reforms aimed at curbing smoking in the Maldives.