Maldives Customs Service has seized more than 15,000 vape cartridges during an operation targeting an attempt to smuggle the items into the country by sea.
Customs officials stated that the 15,601 vape cartridges were discovered during a search of a sea freight shipment suspected of containing illicit goods.
"In this operation, a shipment declared as general cargo was inspected, and a large quantity of concealed vapes was discovered. A total of 15,601 vape cartridges were found and have now been taken into Customs custody," the agency said.
The street value of the seized vape shipment is estimated to exceed MVR 5 million.
This marks the largest shipment of vapes intercepted by Customs since the government's decision to ban the import of vapes and electronic cigarettes into the Maldives effective November 15, 2024.
Customs further noted that a total of 22,309 vape cartridges have been seized across three separate operations conducted over the past five days.
