Vaikaradhoo MP Hussain Ziyad has alleged that senior government officials were involved in the illegal tobacco trade following President Mohamed Muizzu's decision to increase duty on cigarettes.

Speaking at a gathering held by the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) in Maafushi on Saturday night, Ziyad said the biggest difficulty facing the youth population is "rolling tobacco" because of high cigarette prices.

"They are taking advantage of this situation. Senior government officials are selling cigarettes. I'm telling [Home Minister] Ihusaan very boldly. It is the senior government officials who are involved in the illegal trade of cigarettes," he said.

Ziyad said he was not promoting cigarette and tobacco use, but raising concerns about smuggling cigarettes and the black market.

“I am talking about the two missing 40-foot containers,” he added.

He was referring to two containers of cigarettes seized by Customs that were found to have been stolen from the Maldives Ports Limited (MPL) in Hulhumale'.

The two containers of cigarettes were seized in late April while being smuggled as items needed for the construction of the new terminal at Velana International Airport (VIA).

A credible source told Adhadhu that the containers were empty when police intelligence received a tip-off and checked the Hulhumale' Port on Wednesday night. It is unclear how such a large number of cigarettes disappeared from two containers in the port, which has security guards and cameras.

The two containers were packed with Manchester brand cigarettes, which cost more than MVR 100 million in import duty. There were at least 12 million cigarettes in the containers.

Police have launched an investigation, but have not provided any information to the media or the public. Customs and MPL have not yet commented either.