A man who was arrested with 50 bottles of alcohol, has been released.

The Maldives Police Service (MPS) revealed that an intel report received on an attempt to smuggle bottles of alcohol into Hithadhoo district of southernmost Addu City, prompted officers in the region to conduct an operation.

The operation was conducted jointly by officers stationed in Hithadhoo as well as police intelligence unit officers, on June 27.

During the operation, a 43-year-old Maldivian man was arrested from the wooded area of the island for being in possession of the bottles of alcohol.

Upon being presented to the Hithadhoo Magistrate Court for his remand hearing, the man was released by the court.

Further, police officers confiscated equipment and materials believed to be used in brewing alcohol, inside the wooded area of Hithadhoo, during an operation conducted on June 25. The confiscated items include four، five-liter bottles filled with substances suspected to be alcohol, as well as equipment and substances suspected to be used in brewing alcohol.

No arrests were made in connection with the case.

The alcohol brewing materials were confiscated during an operation conducted by the Maldives Police Service (MPS) in their ongoing efforts to curb drug and alcohol trafficking as well as smuggling across the Maldives and crackdown on such networks.

The operation was carried out as part of Hithadhoo police station's efforts to ensure that the upcoming Eid-Al-Adha is safe for the people to enjoy.