The police held three men – two Gozitans and one Maltese – after they were seen carrying from a boat a number of boxes that contained a considerable number of birds late on Sunday evening.
Following surveillance, police stopped the three men after they were seen carrying the boxes from the boat in Mgarr ix-Xini.
When the boxes were opened, the police found birds that had been brought into Malta illegally.
The birds were taken into quarantine