Booze bootlegger busted

JOHN BISSET/The Timaru Herald

BIG HAUL: Constable Chris Hill with some of the distilling equipment and spirits at the centre of a police raid.

Relevant offers

An illicit distilling and sales operation that police claim targeted gang members, alcoholics and young people, has been busted in Timaru's Marchwiel suburb.

Following a three-month surveillance operation, yesterday's raid ended with the arrest of a 47-year-old man.

Timaru police Sergeant Grant Lord said the operation was on a large scale.

Police allege the accused was supplying cheap spirits to a large number of people known to him.

The man has been charged with selling liquor without a licence, and was remanded on bail to appear in the Timaru District Court on August 17.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of three months' imprisonment or a $40,000 fine.

Police are likely to seek confiscation of the distilling equipment.

"We know who a lot of his clients are.

"They are gang members, alcoholics, criminals and young people," Mr Lord said.

He refused to say how many clients the man was alleged to have had, only to that it involved "a large number of people".

"It's another large quantity of alcohol off the streets ... given all the issues we have got with alcohol we don't need idiots like this selling [illegally]."

Mr Lord said the sale of homemade liquor raised several concerning issues surrounding health risks, a lack of education and a lack of supervision of those consuming the spirits.

"And given his customer or client list, we've natural concerns about them anyway."

He estimated the bottles were sold for $18 each and the sales tally would be "on par" with some licensed retailers.

Mr Lord said there was no evidence that any under-aged people bought alcohol directly from the accused.

The spirits were manufactured in a single garage at the address and the operation took up about half the floor space, Mr Lord said.

"The retail side of it took up three large cupboards in his kitchen."

The distilled alcohol included rum, bourbon, gin, vodka, whisky and ouzo "and others".

"We have seized two trailer-loads full of exhibits and filled the back of the stationwagon two times over."

Mr Lord said among the items found at the man's address were a large number of empty alcohol bottles of "all the flavours you can imagine" and nine 30-litre containers filled with fermenting alcohol.

It was not known how much alcohol would be produced from the containers.

"By all accounts he is a very competent brewer of alcohol."

Police first became aware of the distilling operation in September, when officers were executing a search warrant for an unrelated matter.

SPIRIT OF THE LAW

The booze discovered in the Marchwiel raid was selling for $18 a litre, or roughly half the price of shop-bought spirits.

In New Zealand it is legal to operate a still in your own home, but it is illegal to sell it.

- © Fairfax NZ News