Four people have been arrested in connection with the theft of two containers of 13 million cigarettes from the Hulhumale' commercial port.
Police did not disclose their identities.
But Adhadhu understands that Criminal Court warrants were sought to arrest businessmen Ahmed Arif, Mohamed Waheed, former senior Customs Officer Muaz Ali and senior Customs officer at Hulhumale' Port Ziwar Ismail.
Their mobile phones were also confiscated by the police.
Police raided multiple locations in connection with the case on Tuesday night. They include the house of an official from Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO).
The cigarette containers were stolen two months ago. The illegal shipment worth MVR 100 million in import duties was first seized by the Customs in April.
The containers were imported as goods for the Saudi Bin Laden Group, the contractor for the Velana International Airport (VIA) new terminal project.
Leo Trading was the local agent which helps Bin Laden Group with clearance of goods. They alerted Customs when they found the illegal cigarettes inside the container.
The confiscated cigarettes were stolen while under the Customs lock and supervision of MPL. More than 13 million cigarettes were replaced with a meme of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.
The meme shows Gayoom in front of a white wall with profanity written in large letters. It reads *oruhandaa Dhen (*iss Off) - a clear message from the thieves to challenge the authorities.
