A 'fake vodka' factory capable of pumping out 150 bottles every hour has been shut down. The distillery could have been dodging £2.5 million of excise duty every year, HM Revenue and Customs say.
An investigation into the factory - based near Lichfield, Staffs - has been launched as officials look to identify those behind it, StokeonTrentLive reports. The premises were searched on February 1 where thousands of empty bottles and ethanol were discovered.
Tanks capable of holding 7,000 litres of liquid have also been seized. HMRC say the illegal factory was capable of producing up to 150 bottles of fake vodka every hour.
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Judith Rockett, assistant director in HMRC's fraud investigation service, said: “The sale of illegal alcohol will not be tolerated by us or our partner agencies. Disrupting criminal trade is at the heart of our strategy to clamp down on the illicit alcohol market which costs the UK around £1 billion per year.
This is theft from the taxpayer. This crime hurts legitimate businesses and the people that buy the often-dangerous products."
Items seized include: 241 full five litre containers of ethanol, 423 full 70cl bottles of Krackoff Triple Distilled Vodka, 9,030 empty 70cl bottles, 112 boxes of bottle tops, nine Intermediate 1,000 litre Bulk Container’s (IBCs) three of which contained ethanol, and 1,284 empty five litre containers of ethanol.
Victoria Wilson, cabinet member with responsibility for Trading Standards at Staffordshire County Council, said: "Fake and illegal alcohol can be extremely harmful to people’s health and can cause lifelong disabilities. It’s something that our Trading Standards service take very seriously and work hard with partner agencies to tackle.
“Our officers make regular visits to retailers and off licenses to make sure these dangerous items are not on sale."
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