Cape Town - Five suspects are expected to appear in court this week, following their arrests for illegally manufacturing and selling alcohol over the weekend.
According to police, the suspects were apprehended in separate incidents between Illitha Park in Khayelitsha and Paarl East.
Recounting events leading to the arrests, police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi said police in the province had been tracing information on the illegal liquor manufacturing in the Lingelethu West policing precinct for an extended period.
Swartbooi said: “In the quest to eradicate the illegal manufacturing and trading in liquor, police members in the Western Cape detained five suspects in isolated incidents on Friday, November 1, 2024.
“In the first incident, upon concluding their trace operation, investigating officers descended on an address in Illitha Park, armed with a search warrant. Officers entered the residence in Nqilomathi Street where they found four men in the process of filling empty bottles with a fake substance, portraying a well-known liquor.”
“When questioned by police, the suspects could not explain the presence of the bottling machine or the falsified labels. Police then proceeded to detain the suspects on a charge of illegal manufacturing of counterfeit liquor,” he said.
In the second incident, police attached to the Paarl East precinct conducted disruptive crime prevention initiatives when they conducted a raid at an address in Symphony Road and searched the premises.
Swartbooi said the owner of the premises could not account for the amount of alcohol on his premises nor could he produce a valid permit to own the amount of alcohol.
“Police confiscated the liquor with an estimated street value of R250000 and in the process arrested an adult male for dealing in liquor without a valid licence. Once charged all five suspects are expected to make their respective court appearances in the Khayelitsha and Paarl Magistrates’ Courts,” Swartbooi said.
Cape Argus