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HMRC dismantles illegal alcohol factory in Staffordshire
An illegal alcohol factory capable of producing 150 bottles of fake vodka every hour has been shut down as HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) cracks down on “extremely harmful” criminal trade.
HMRC discovered a property filled with counterfeit vodka and production machinery during the search of a commercial premises near Lichfield which took place on 1 February.
Government officers recovered hundreds of bottles of Krackoff vodka suspected to be counterfeit, along with tanks that could hold 7,000 litres of liquid.
Revenue and Customs dismantled and removed the equipment. As part of the raid, the government department also recovered 241 full five litre containers of ethanol and 423 full 70cl bottles of Krackoff Triple Distilled Vodka.
More than 9,000 empty 70cl bottles and 112 boxes of bottle tops were also found, along with 1,284 empty five litre containers of ethanol, a sign of the factory’s previous production.
Investigations are continuing and no arrests have been made at this stage. HMRC is also working with Trading Standards to tackle the issue.
Victoria Wilson, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Trading Standards at Staffordshire County Council warned that fake and illegal alcohol can be “extremely harmful to people’s health and can cause lifelong disabilities”.
“Our officers make regular visits to retailers and off licenses to make sure these dangerous items are not on sale,” Wilson added.
The factory was capable of evading an estimated £2.5 million of excise duty every year, HMRC has said.
Judith Rockett, assistant director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, called the illegal activity a “theft from the taxpayer”. The market for illegal alcohol costs the UK around £1 billion per year, and Rockett said that “the sale of illegal alcohol will not be tolerated by us or our partner agencies”.
She added: “This crime hurts legitimate businesses and the people that buy the often-dangerous products. Anyone with information about any type of tax fraud can contact HMRC online.”