Excise men net two large illicit liquor hauls

A bus owner trying to add to his income by operating an illicit liquor distillery at Wennappuwa was among those arrested when Excise Department officers conducted a raid this week. The rich private bus owner who was known as ‘Shanthi’ in the area was found to be owner of the distillery and according to Excise Department officers, 1125 litres of illicit liquor loaded into a Canter truck was taken into custody when it was ready to depart from his house.The raid revealed the presence of a large distillery containing 30, 000 litres of illicit alcohol and 2,250 litres of kasippu, Excise Inspector M. Jayantha de Silva said.

“The distillery was in a permanent shelter built of cement and was sited in a thicket of mangroves,” Mr de Silva said. A motor used to supply water to the distillery too was detected with the electricity taken illicitly from the bus owner’s house.

Four suspects, including the bus owner were arrested and produced in the Marawila Magistrate’s Court and fined Rs. 700,000 each. North-Western Province Assistant Excise Commissioner R.M. Ratnayake and his officers had conducted the raid. Meanwhile, the raid conducted last Friday by Excise officers at Muthurajawela close to the Ja-Ela – Kandana road ended with the capture of two suspects for brewing illicit liquor.

“45,000 litres of spirits worth Rs.1.1 million were found in 11 polysack bags ready to be transported”, Mr. de Silva said. The illicit distillery the suspects were operating was situated in the middle of the marsh so that they could escape if Excise officers or the Police tried to reach the place in boats.

“We were waiting till they had loaded the sacks into the truck and then captured the men”, Mr. de Silva said. Excise Superintendent U. Seneviratne, Excise Inspector R. Wijesinghe and Excise guards Dhammika and Ranaweera were in the party which carried out the raid and the suspects were to be produced in the Negombo Magistrate’s Court.