The Maldives has become a pipeline for hundreds of millions of dollars in Western goods heading to Russia. MALÉ, Maldives—The white sand beaches, turquoise waters and secluded luxury resorts of this South Asian archipelago attract millions of tourists each year. But a new trade has quietly emerged behind the postcard-perfect backdrop: a web of companies helping Russia evade sanctions.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in goods that are restricted or destined for sanctioned companies have changed hands at the airport, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal and interviews with Western officials. Some of these goods serve both civilian and military uses. The airport’s cargo holds are often filled with aircraft parts and electronic components, as well as other restricted goods, according to the documents and officials.

The amount of goods flowing through the Maldives is relatively small when compared with Russia’s biggest channels for sanctions evasion, including China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, which together account for about $15 billion in restricted Russian imports annually. But the flow of goods through the Maldives, which hasn’t previously been reported, shows how expansive Russia’s efforts to thwart Western restrictions are, turning even small and unexpected corners of the globe into channels for goods. Through more than four years of war, Moscow has repeatedly shown that it can find the gaps in sanctions, leaving Western officials playing a game of whack-a-mole as they try to halt the flow of goods that sustains Russia’s war effort and economy.

The documents reviewed by the Journal—air waybills, a cargo manifest, and emails between logistics companies—paint a picture of how the system in the Maldives works. A commercial flight operated by Russia’s largest airline, Aeroflot, lands each morning at the airport in Malé, where teams of local middlemen working with Russia-linked logistics companies help get the U.S., European and Chinese goods cleared through customs. The goods are then loaded onto the Aeroflot flights, which fly back to Moscow with goods and cargo around two hours later.

Once in Russia, the products are distributed, in some cases, to sanctioned entities, including Russia’s biggest domestic carrier S7 Airlines and its maintenance subsidiaries, which have struggled to get replacement parts for its fleet of aging aircraft.