Excise Dept detects illicit brewery in Muthurajawela wetlands

The Excise Department has planned to take legal action against an individual who was operating an illegal brewery within Muthurajawela wetland.

The Commissioner Excise (Legal enforcement) as well as the Media spokesperson for the Department Kapila Kumarasinghe said that the Colombo Special Operations Bureau of the Department following a tip off have lead a raid into Wattala, Handala area on Friday March 12, 2021and have detected a man operating an illicit liquor brewery within the wetland.

He said that they were able to arrest the suspect and seize 532,500 ml of illicit liquor and 360,000 ml of Goda which he has been brewing. Mr Kumarasinghe added that they were also able to seize items used for brewing illicit liquor.

He explained that the total worth of all the items sized could be estimated as Rs 600,000.

He said that the Excise Department has released the suspect under excise bail and has resorted to file a case against him in Wattala Magistrate Courts on Wednesday, March 25.