Police have arrested a man with 200 bottles of illicit liquor during a raid in the Muthurajawela marshland at Mahabage.
The operation was carried out on Wednesday by the Walana Central Anti Vice Striking Force, police said.
The suspect is a 53-year-old resident of Ja-Ela. He was handed over to the Mahabage Police along with the seized liquor, and further investigations are being conducted by that station.
Police have not said whether the bottles were being stored for distribution or produced at the site, and no court date has been announced.
Continuing enforcement in the Western Province
The Muthurajawela wetland, a marsh stretching along the coast north of Colombo, has long been used as cover for illicit liquor operations because of its difficult terrain and limited access.
The arrest follows a series of similar operations in the district. Police raided an illegal liquor production site at Karadiyana earlier this month, and in July officers seized 56 litres of illegal liquor in Negombo.
Illicit liquor remains a persistent enforcement and revenue problem. The trade operates outside the excise system and carries health risks from unregulated production, while depriving the Treasury of duty income. The Committee on Public Finance reviewed the introduction of digital security stamps on legal liquor this week as part of efforts to tighten control over the licensed market.
