Two motorists were caught driving under the influence of alcohol during a police checkpoint in Birżebbuġa on Friday night, with a third caught during a previous check in Qormi.  

The first drink-driver was breathalysed when police noticed that the German-registered number plate at the front of his vehicle did not match that at its rear. In a statement, the police said that officers had also caught the man with an undefined “illegal substance”. 

Officers breathalysed a second driver some time later. He was also driving while over the blood-alcohol limit. A passenger in that car was arrested after refusing to obey police orders. 

In a statement, the police force said that officers had stopped more than 900 vehicles during checkpoints over the past weeks. 

A checkpoint operation in Qormi resulted in officers catching another drink-driver, with other searches resulting in motorists being caught with cannabis and in one case heroin.  

On one occasion, police officers noticed a motorist doing a U-turn and driving away when they noticed the police checkpoint. Officers chased the motorist down and stopped him, but found nothing illegal in his car or on his person. 

The operations are led by district police with the help of the force's Rapid Intervention Unit, Drug Squad, Dog Section and Garage Section.