Fake or original, liquor sells

Locally-prepared counterfeits of branded alcohol pose health risk.

ISLAMABAD: The business of fake liquor is flourishing despite several police crackdowns on some of the breweries in the outskirts of the city.

Instead of being closed down, the breweries are being shifted to the heart of the city.

More than five such breweries were busted by the police so far this year. These were found in the areas of Shehzad Town, Soan Garden, Tarlai and
sector G-7.

Police seized thousands of bottles as well as the equipment used for brewing the fake liquor.

However, the people who had been arrested were just workers. The owners of the breweries or the ‘big fish’ are still
at large.

People living in the outskirts of Islamabad had lodged complaints with the police that fake liquor was being produced and transported freely.

Earlier this month, the city police busted a local brewery of fake liquor and seized over 500 bottles of fake liquor along with 12 gallons of alcohol. Police also arrested six suspects involved in bootlegging from the distillery.

Police said the two suspects 15-year-old Junaid Maseeh and Zeeshan Maseeh were suspected bootleggers while Liaqat Maseeh, Junaid Maseeh, Jatan Maseeh and Gulraiz Maseeh were the alleged buyers.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Station House Officer (SHO) Khalid Mehmood Awan said that Gulshan Maseeh, the main suspect and notorious bootlegger, had managed to escape from the brewery before the police raid.

The fact that the people actually involved in running the business always manage to ‘escape’ before the police raid raises many eye-brows about such raids.

The ones who are caught are either workers or the buyers and they are released by the court on bail. Therefore, the business runs smoothly somewhere else as they do need an extravagant set up.

All they need is a hideout where they can store the raw material and prepare the liquor uninterrupted. It can be a room in a flat or a small house in slums.

Talking to The Express Tribune, one of the suspects in police custody, Zeeshan Maseeh, said that the empty bottles and stickers were brought from Lahore along with the spirit in gallons. “We would mix the alcohol with water and then fill it in the bottles at our local facility. We had the equipment to seal the bottles,” said Maseeh.

The small bottles, normally plastic ones, are also called Pinky or Kupi. The larger bottles are called Wilayati and are sold to gullible people as imported or good-quality liquor.

A medical practitioner Dr Altaf Hussain said that the chemicals used in this type of liquor, such as vinegar, make it a deadly substance.

“This liquor is produced through a cheap but unhygienic process. Therefore, the chances of developing harmful bacteria increases,” he said. “Secondly, the chemicals used in this liquor release neuro-toxins which directly harm the Central Nervous System and in extreme cases, depending on the quantity of dose consumed, it effects the smooth muscles which causes suffocation and stops the heartbeat, causing death,” he added.

This poisonous liquor is so easy to prepare that the producers do not need experts or experienced workers. “It only requires mixing the spirit on a pre-determined ratio,” said 15-year-old Junaid Maseeh.

He had abandoned his studies to get into this business. He said that the art was easy  to learn and did not require any formal knowledge or books.

“It is profitable and easy. We have never been caught while transporting the empty bottles and stickers from Lahore to Islamabad on a rented car,”’ he added.

It appears that until the real people behind this business are arrested, hundreds of alcohol consumers remain at risk.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 30^th, 2010.