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A committee meeting. (Photo/Parliament)

Committee delays meeting on cigarette container theft

The theft, involving 13.6 million cigarettes from two containers stored inside the Hulhumalé Commercial Port, was discovered on 8 October.

17 October 2025

The Parliament’s Security Services Committee, known as the 241 Committee, has postponed its scheduled meeting on the theft of cigarette containers from the Hulhumalé Commercial Port.

The meeting, originally planned for Tuesday, was to address the large-scale theft and its implications for national security. Senior officials from Maldives Customs Service and Maldives Ports Limited (MPL) had been summoned for questioning.

However, the parliamentary administration announced on Friday that the meeting had been cancelled and rescheduled for next week. The decision was made to avoid interfering with the ongoing investigation into the case.

The theft, involving 13.6 million cigarettes from two containers stored inside the Hulhumalé Commercial Port, was discovered on 8 October. Authorities have so far arrested four individuals and imposed travel bans on 12 others.

Those arrested include businessman Ahmed Arif, owner of Lotus; Mohamed Waheed, owner of Apollo Company; former senior Customs officer Muaz Ali; and Customs senior officer at Hulhumalé Port, Ziwar Ismail.

In addition, six employees of Maldives Ports Limited have been suspended in connection with the incident. Some of the arrested individuals were brought to Malé early yesterday for questioning.

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