End of the road: Roselan (third from right) displaying items that were confiscated from the premises. — Bernama
Customs bust hidden liquor lab camouflaged by frog ponds
BUTTERWORTH: A cleverly disguised lab processing fake liquor in a remote forest area at Kampung Valdor near Sungai Jawi in Seberang Perai Selatan has been uncovered by Penang Customs.
State Customs director Datuk Roselan Ramli said the Sept 20 raid was carried out on a dilapidated wooden house by a team of operational unit officers at 11.20am.
This follows information and intelligence received regarding the illegal moonshine activity believed to be led by Nepalese nationals.
He said in the premises, 6,621 bottles of liquor were found along with a number of empty bottles, bottle caps and stickers of various brands of liquor.
“There was a glass bottle capping machine and a roll of counterfeit Customs stamps as well as a water barrel that had been modified for manufacturing the fake liquor.
“The seizure is estimated to be worth RM73,654.35 involving duties of RM334,133.37,” he said at a press conference at the Bagan Jermal enforcement store here yesterday, Bernama reported.
He said the syndicate is believed to have been operating there for the past three months and rented the house from a local owner to turn it into a factory for processing fake liquor.
He said it also copied the labels of liquor that are readily available in the market and even affixed forged Customs duty stamps to make it look like the original liquor.
“We believe that the liquor has already made its way into the local market in retail stores.
“Therefore, we advise buyers to buy from licensed operators only because these fake drinks are difficult to tell apart from the original,” he said, alluding to the danger of fake alcohol that can cause blindness, organ failure and even death.
On the ingenuity of the criminals, Roselan revealed that before reaching the lab, the operations team faced a bizarre challenge of bypassing ponds that looked like a frog-breeding habitat, whereby the loud croaking of the critters served to warn the syndicate about their presence so they can scuttle away scot-free and the Customs party homing in with no prisoners.
He said efforts to track down the syndicate members were fully underway and the case was being investigated in accordance with Section 74(1)(f) of the Excise Act 1976 as well as Section 6 of the Law Reform (Eradication of Illicit Samsu Act 165).
