Sharp drop in distillation of illicit liquor

by Jayampathy Jayasinghe

The distillation and sale of illicit liquor have dropped sharply following raids on illicit hooch dens in many parts of the country this year. The Panadura Walana Vice Squad which comes directly under the purview of IGP, N.K. Illangakoon conducted 4,551 raids, a senior police officer told the Sunday Observer.

He said most of these raids were on illicit hooch dens in the country. “We raided 4,332 illicit hooch dens this year alone”.

The other 136 raids were conducted under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance and 83 raids under Firearms, Explosives, Brothels, Forest and Fauna and Flora, Obscene publications, Cruelty to Animals and Intellectual Property and Gambling Ordinances. Following these raids from January to December this year, 4,515 persons were taken in for questioning and 3,220 persons were convicted by the courts for various offences.

A police spokesman said that 1,331 cases are pending before the Magistrates and High Courts. This year the Walana Vice Squad conducted 1,072 more raids compared to the previous year and the revenue from fines alone topped Rs. 36 million. The Walana Vice Squad led by OIC Duminda Balasuriya seized 1,200 barrels of Unlawfully Manufactured Liquor (UML) and 26,000 bottles of unlawfully distilled liquor (Kasippu), 156 bottles of arrack and 325 kilograms of Cannabis Sativa (Ganja) in raids this year.

The Walana Vice Squad functions under DIG Staff, Ajith Samarasekera and SSP Palitha Fernando.