Beware of bootleg spirits this time of year

New Year’s Eve party revelers should be alert over branded alcoholic drinks this time of year, this year, as police had succeeded in nabbing a major bootlegging ring.

The Jakarta Police revealed on Friday that they had arrested HP, 43, who apparently produced counterfeit spirits from his rented house in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, on Wednesday.

Hundreds of distribution-ready bottles of fake Chivas Regal, Jack Daniel’s, Absolut Vodka, Black Label, Martel Cordon Bleu and other liquors, as well as hundreds of empty liquor bottles and labeled boxes, were confiscated during the arrest.

Ingredients used to create the artificial booze, including an alcohol mix, essences of whisky and caramel, bottles of mineral water, Kratingdaeng energy drink, vanilla-flavored Marjan Boudoin syrup and other items, were also confiscated.

An operation target over the past two months, HP had allegedly been a producer for a distribution network spanning through numerous lower-class nightclubs in North Jakarta since August this year, deputy narcotics investigation unit head Adj. Sr. Comr. Rachmad Wibowo said.

The investigation into the business started when the police received a report on people frequenting the suspect’s house, taking and bringing boxes of bottles with them. Police surveillance was reportedly first initiated two months before the Wednesday raid, where HP was allegedly apprehended red-handed for illegally producing bogus liquor.

According to Rachmad, HP obtained the empty liquor bottles from several nightclubs in North Jakarta, where some of his friends worked. “Some of the bottles have their sticker labels ripped off and have names written on them, probably those of the nightclub guests that had previously ordered the drinks,” he said.

HP is believed to have used industry-grade alcohol as the basis for his liquor. He then mixed 10 liters of 90-percent alcohol liquid with 15 liters of mineral water, two bottles of energy drink, some syrup and a teaspoon of sodium powder. Afterward, he filled the empty bottles with the artificial booze and sealed the bottle caps with plastic ribbon, much like those on mineral water bottles sold in convenience markets.

HP apparently then distributed the drinks back to nightclubs through three of his “clients”: SH in Warakas, ED in Cilincing and TN in Semper, all in North Jakarta. He said he could earn Rp 40 million per month from the business.

The fake liquor was then sold at somewhere between Rp 70,000 (US$7.7) and Rp 100,000 — far cheaper than their original counterparts, where prices can reach up to millions of Rupiah.

HP said that he had been involved in the business since 2008.

“I got into the business by selling fake liquor my friend had produced,” he told reporters at the Jakarta Police headquarters.

It was his friend, identified as AG, who taught him how to brew the illegal liquor.

“When he retired from the business, many of his men told me to take over the business. (mim)