Sri Lanka, June 30 -- A large-scale illegal liquor manufacturing operation disguised as a bottled drinking water business has been busted in Kaduwela, with police seizing more than 18,500 bottles of illicit liquor and arresting six suspects during a raid.

Acting on intelligence, officers attached to the Western Province North Crime Division carried out the raid on Saturday at a property on Sudarshana Road in Kaduwela.

Police discovered that the premises, which operated as a drinking water business, was allegedly being used to manufacture illegal liquor.

Police recovered 18,575 bottles (180 ml each) of locally manufactured liquor, amounting to 3,345.5 litres, along with four one-litre bottles and one 750 ml bottle labelled as foreign l...