Police confiscates 120 cartons of fake alcoholic beverages

The Nungua Divisional Police on Wednesday arrested three persons who are said to be part of a fake alcohol production cartel in Accra.

The products produced under the guise of GIHOC distilleries products were illegally produced with tax stamps and subsequently sold onto the local market.

ASP Tsidi Francis, Divisional Commander for Kpeshie at Nungua, disclosed to Joy News that the Regional Crime Office is currently in talks with the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) to ascertain the level of harm the products could have on consumers.

“We were able to locate their place of operation, found them in the process of production and made four arrests. We were able to retrieve 120 cartons of products labelled as Castle Bridge drinks.

“There was also 90 cartons of empty bottles supposed to be of Herb Afrique and Mandingo,” he said.

The Divisional Commander is worried lead has been how they afforded original tax stamps from the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

He stated that “It’s quite difficult to tell how this tax stamp was acquired. We will be engaging the GRA to ascertain how these stamps got to these criminals”.

As the holidays beckon, the police are continuously advising the general public especially consumers of alcoholic beverages to be vigilant on the kinds of products they patronise.

ASP Tsidi Francis said an assessment of how new a product looks; the expiry date and quality of the product are very key.

Meanwhile, Joy Business has learned the Police Service will in the coming days be embarking on similar swoop exercises across the country with officials of GSA and GRA to clamp down on cartels of fake products.