An illegal alcohol factory near Lichfield capable of producing up to 150 bottles of fake vodka every hour has been shut down.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officers found hundreds of bottles of counterfeit Krackoff and tanks that could hold 7,000 litres of liquid during a raid on 1st February.
It is estimated that the illegal production equipment meant the facility was capable of evading £2.5million of excise duty every year.
No exact location for the factory has been disclosed, with HMRC only confirming it was at commercial premises “near Lichfield”.
Judith Rockett, assistant director of the HMRC fraud investigation service, said:
“The sale of illegal alcohol will not be tolerated by us or our partner agencies.
“Disrupting criminal trade is at the heart of our strategy to clamp down on the illicit alcohol market which costs the UK around £1billion per year.
“This is theft from the taxpayer.
“This crime hurts legitimate businesses and the people that buy the often-dangerous products.”
Judith Rockett, HMRC
Among the items seized include:
- 241 full five litre containers of ethanol
- 423 full 70cl bottles of Krackoff triple distilled vodka
- 9,030 empty 70cl bottles
- 112 boxes of bottle tops
- nine intermediate 1,000 litre bulk containers, three of which contained ethanol
- 1,284 empty five litre containers of ethanol
Investigations are continuing and no arrests have been made.
Victoria Wilson, cabinet member with responsibility for Trading Standards at Staffordshire County Council, said:
“Fake and illegal alcohol can be extremely harmful to people’s health and can cause lifelong disabilities.
“It’s something that our Trading Standards service take very seriously and work hard with partner agencies to tackle.
“Our officers make regular visits to retailers and off licenses to make sure these dangerous items are not on sale.
“Anyone with concerns or with information on the sale of counterfeit alcohol should contact our confidential Fight the Fakes hotline on 01785 330356.”
Cllr Victoria Wilson, Staffordshire County Council