13M cigarette heist: Bangladeshi man arrested, jailed pending trial’s outcome

Mohamed Alamin Mia, 36, Bangladesh. (Photo/Maldives Police Service)

The police have confirmed the arrest of a Bangladeshi national in connection to the theft of two containers of smuggled cigarettes from a seaport in Hulhumale’, raising the total number of suspects arrested in the case to 10.

The two containers containing 13.6 million sticks of cigarettes smuggled into the Maldives were seized by Maldives Customs Service on April 26, and kept at Hulhumale’ International Port, a facility managed by the Maldives Ports Limited (MPL). The theft of the cigarettes was reported on October 9.

In a statement on Sunday, the police confirmed the arrest of Bangladeshi national in the case.

According to the police, Mohamed Alamin Mia, 36, was arrested in connection to the case on Wednesday, November 12.

When presented for his remand hearing, the court ordered for him to be jailed pending the outcome of trial.

This marks the 10th arrest in the case. Among the first to be arrested were business magnates who the police believe funded the heist – Ahmed Arif (Aattey), the owner of Lotus, and Mohamed Waheed (Dhigali), the owner of Apollo Holdings.

Combined photos of (from L-R) Zivar Ismail, 40; Muaz Ali, 48; Mohamed Waheed (Dhigali), 65; and Ahmed Arif (Aattey), 61. (Photo/Maldives Police Service)

The 10 suspects:

Ahmed Arif (Aattey), 61, the owner of Lotus
Mohamed Waheed (Dhigali), 65, the owner of Apollo Holdings
Zivar Ismail, 40, a high-ranking Customs official
Muaz Ali, 48, a former Customs official who now works as the general manager for engineering and projects at Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO)
Adam Waheed, 57, an employee of Apollo Holdings and captain of the boat allegedly used to transport the containers
Hassan Abdul Rahman, 52, an employee of Apollo Holdings
Ahmed Shaheem, 42, an employee of MPL
Hussain Samih, 35, an employee of MPL
Ahmed Firushan, 35, an employee of MPL
Mohamed Alamin Mia, 36, Bangladeshi

Seven of them – Aattey, Dhigali, Muaz, Zivar, Firushan, Adam Waheed, and Alamin – are jailed pending the outcome of their trial, as the police investigation into the case continues.

(From L-R): Ahmed Firushan, 35, H. Romania, Male' City, Hussain Samih, 35, Chaandhanee, Addu City’s Hithadhoo and Ahmed Shameem, 42, Nooraleege, HDh. Vaikaradhoo .

The police have said that the heist was very well coordinated and heavily funded, with the thieves swapping the containers with identical ones and altering the name and registration number of the boat used in the crime in an attempt to evade detection.

The police said the original containers were loaded to the boat and then destroyed at the industrial island of K. Thilafushi after offloading the cigarettes. The police had recovered parts of the containers from the island.