Three West Midlands men who used industrial alcohol to make fake vodka that could kill were jailed on January 25.
An illegal alcohol manufacturing and bottling plant in Birmingham city centre was uncovered by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officers, who raided an industrial unit in Brewery Street. The raid took place six days after five men were killed in an explosion at an illicit vodka distillery in Boston, Lincolnshire on 13 July 2011.
Adrian Farley, Assistant Director of Criminal Investigation for HMRC, said after the case: “This was a substantial bottling, production and distribution plant. It was capable of making and distributing large quantities of counterfeit vodka throughout the country, with the potential of costing the UK taxpayer nearly £500,000 in lost revenue.”
“The crime gang took no precautions to make the environment safe creating a high risk of an explosion and loss of life in their city centre unit. They were fully aware that the counterfeit vodka, which contained dangerous levels of methanol, was unfit to drink. They duped the public into buying what they believed were legitimate goods when in fact the counterfeit vodka could have killed them.”
Forensic analysis of the counterfeit vodka showed it contained dangerous levels of methanol which is used in antifreeze, solvent and cleaning fluids. The effects of drinking methanol include nausea, abdominal pain, dizziness, blindness, kidney or liver problems, coma or death. The illegal distillery in Birmingham was capable of producing vast quantities of fake vodka. HMRC criminal investigators seized:
• Over 2,500 litres of counterfeit vodka branded as “Arctic Ice”
• 13 x 1,000 litre plastic industrial bulk containers (IBCs) – three of which contained industrial alcohol of 96%
• 67,500 bottle caps
• 8,400 empty glass 70cl bottles
• a labelling machine and other paraphernalia relating to the production of illegal alcohol
Joint investigations with local authorities across the West Midlands led to the discovery that Arctic Ice was already in circulation at a number of independent stores. Seizures were made in; Birmingham, Hereford, Shropshire, Staffordshire and Worcester by Trading Standards; some of which are pursuing separate prosecutions.
