Three foreign nationals have been arrested in connection with the large-scale sale of alcoholic beverages within Male’ city.
The arrests followed an operation conducted by Counter Narcotics Intelligence and Drug Enforcement on Wednesday. Police reports indicate that three apartments within the city were searched during the operation.
Items discovered during the search include:
Nine bottles of liquor
Six five-litre bottles, seventy-eight 500-ml bottles, and twenty-two buckets containing suspected liquor
Over MVR 29,000 and USD 100, believed to be proceeds from criminal activity
The police have identified the arrested individuals as:
Sabbir Hossain, Bangladeshi (33)
Mohamed Badal, Bangladeshi (52)
Raj Das, Indian (20)
These individuals were taken into custody on suspicion of the illegal manufacturing, possession, use, and dealing of liquor. Authorities have confirmed that all three have been handed over to Immigration for deportation proceedings.
The police investigation into the incident remains ongoing.