Ministry seizes counterfeit alcohol
A N T I - E c o n o m i c C r i m e Depart ment of f icia ls at t he M i n i s t r y o f I n t e r i o r a n nou nced t he sei z u re of a rou nd 4,000 l it res of fa ke a lcohol, which was imported and due to be sold illega lly in the Kingdom.
The department’s deput y director Long Sreng said on Sunday that on Saturday, Boueng Keng Kang district police of ficers, in collaboration with his department, Phnom Penh Municipal Court deput y prosecutor Say Nora and Ministr y of Health Drug Control Agency officer Touch Phalla, raided a location storing and distributing methanol in the dist r ict’s Tuol Svay Prey I commune, in t he capita l.
House owner, Lim Huy, 61, was made to sign a contract agreeing to stop the import and distribution of fa ke a lcohol.
The methanol, which is not suitable for hand washing and will not protect against Covid-19, was seized and is now being kept at the Ministry of Industry and Handicraft’s Institute of Standards of Cambodia.
Sreng said the seized items included 19 yellow buckets of methanol weighing 163kg each, 75 jerry cans and pumping equipment.
“After the raid, the owner was required to sign a contract agreeing to stop importing and distributing fake alcohol. The seized products were handed over to the Institute of Standards of Cambodia.
“We are continuing to carr y out raids and crackdow n on counterfeit products. I will not revea l any identities yet, but we have a further three raids planned next week,” he said.
Boueng Keng Kang district police Chief Lim Piset h said on Sunday t hat the owner had attempted to import the a lcohol in secret, k nowing it was i l lega l.
Sreng said: “If t he product is made of methanol when we dip cotton wool in it and burn it, the flames will be inv isible to us. However, when we do the same with ethanol, the flame is yellow.
“Another way to assess the content is when we wash hands with methanol, our hands dry in a few minutes. However with ethanol, it will take longer and the user will identify a slippery substance when applied,” he said.
On March 18, officia ls from the Cambodia Import-Export Inspection and Fraud Repression DirectorateGeneral (CamControl) said they were continuing to inspect pharmacies around the Oly mpic Market area.
They said that the operation has resulted in many litres of fake alcohol being seized while on sale.
Camcontrol called on the people not to buy any alcohol products without the correct trademarks and ethanol content, as it could mean the product does not protect against Covid-19.