Saudi authorities seized large quantities of alcohol, planned to be distributed in the kingdom during the ‘Id Al-Fitr festival, which began on Monday.
The Saudi religious police, otherwise known as the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, foiled the initiative of an illegal African resident to sell and distribute locally manufactured alcohol in the kingdom.
Saudi Arabia prohibits the consumption or distribution of alcohol, for religious reasons.
The head of the Riyadh branch of the commission told the newspaper the manufacturer planned to distribute large quantities of wine and arak, an aniseed-flavored alcoholic drink, the Saudi daily Al-Watan reported.
The police seized 51,190 liters of the banned liquid, more than half of which was ready for distribution.
The value of the seized goods was worth more than two and a half million Saudi riyals, or $670,000.
The manufacturer had rented a villa in which he set up the brewery, but the frequency of taxis outside the villa raised the suspicions of the neighbors who summoned the authorities.
The news report was accompanied by a picture of hundreds of empty mineral water bottles, which were to be used to hold the alcohol.