Authorities have arrested a man in possession of drugs - who jumped into the sea to evade arrest.

The man was arrested in Maafushi island of Kaafu atoll during a special operation conducted on Tuesday. The man had jumped into the sea from Maafushi harbour in order to evade arrest. Although he was shortly captured after police fished him out of the water, the man managed to release his bag into the sea.

Nevertheless, the marine police dive team successfully retrieved the bag on Tuesday around 13:09.

Upon searching the bag, it was found to contain 12 rubber packets of substances suspected to be narcotics.

The case is undergoing further investigation.