A foreigner has been arrested for trying to smuggle cigarettes into the Maldives.
Abdul Kareem, 45, of Bangladesh, was arrested in connection with the incident. He was living in the Maldives without a valid visa.
Police said he was arrested during an operation conducted in Thilafushi on May 23. The cigarettes were seized from a boat in the boatyard.
Police seized 32 cartons of Manchester brand cigarettes. The foreigner was remanded in custody for 15 days.
The price of a cigarette pack has risen to MVR 240 since the government increased the duties in November 2024.
Cases of cigarette smuggling have increased significantly due to the ban on vaping and the extremely high import duties on cigarettes.
In April, cigarettes worth MVR 21 million were seized from a container imported by the airport development company.
Customs also seized a shipment of cigarettes at the Addu port. The shipment contained more than 100,000 cigarettes.
Before that, senior police officers were caught while running a network to smuggle cigarettes from the airport duty-free zone.
