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Canny engineer turned moonshine into duty-free scotch
The brewing process. Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
“Scotch whisky” usually selling at more than Rs. 5,000 was being offered to buyers at Rs. 2,000 on the pretext that they were getting it at duty-free prices while in reality they were getting kasippu mixed with essence and colouring.
Police nabbed the mastermind while he was busy making more fake whisky to be sold to customers unfamiliar with real scotch.
The racket was unearthed after a tip-off to the Special Crimes unit at Peliyagoda and the arrest of a man selling duty-free foreign liquor.
The man had confessed to police that he was not only selling duty-free liquor but also so-called “duplicate” liquor of foreign brands, the head of the Special Crimes Unit, Chief Inspector W.L. Ravindra said.
Two more arrests followed, in Ragama and Wattala, yielding information about the mastermind of the operation, who was making the fake whisky.
Police tracked him down and found he was an engineer who had worked in more than 15 countries including Dubai and Italy.
“When we raided a house in Kaleliya, Kandana, where the manufacturing was taking place, we found the mastermind of the illegal business. He was in the process of turning out the brew to be bottled,” CI Ravindra said.
Selling the illicit brew with labels of well known brands
“He was living in the downstairs with his family while distilling the brew on the upper floor. In order to avoid the smell reaching the neighbours he had fixed a pipe where vapor passed through naphthalene balls,” the officer said.
The man used his engineering knowledge to make the moonshine distilling plant.
He imported colouring and other essences from Italy which were mixed in to give the brew the look and smell of a foreign whisky. Bottle labels were imported from Dubai.
The engineer used three agents to distribute the products through people known to them and usually targeted customers who were not familiar with whisky.
“He sold a 75cl (750ml) bottle for Rs. 1,100 while the cost of production was around Rs. 550, and the agents sold the liquor at Rs. 2,000,” CI Ravindra said.
The Excise Department had previously raided the house – which was being rented at Rs 50,000 a month from a Sri Lankan living in Australia – but had only found labels of foreign liquor bottles and therefore could not charge him.
Police believe the man had produced and sold some 2,000 bottles over the past three months.
The three suspects initially arrested were produced in court and fined a total of Rs. 95,000 while the main suspect is in custody.
CI Ravindra
The machinary used
