he Bekasi Police have arrested two people and named them suspects for allegedly running a home factory that produced illegal liquor in Bekasi, West Java.
The two suspects, a 37-year-old and a 30-year-old, were arrested during a raid at a house in Vila Taman Kartini, East Bekasi district, on Thursday. The police estimated that the home industry had a monthly revenue of up to Rp 200 million (US$13,389).
“The amount of liquor that the suspects produced was pretty big,” Bekasi Police chief Sr. Comr. Indarto said as reported by tempo.co on Thursday.
The raid came following a tip-off from local residents who suspected illicit activities were taking place in the house. In the raid, investigators found 100 drums of ciu (fermented sugarcane liquor), each filled with 100 liters of the liquor.
The home industry produced 20 cardboard containers per day, with each container storing 24 bottles of liquor, Indarto said.
The suspects claimed the liquor did not use harmful substances and that only safe substances, like rice, sugar and water, were used.
The police would analyze samples of the liquor at the National Police forensics lab, Indarto said, as the suspects did not hold a permit for the production of liquor.
The suspects face 15 years in prison if found guilty of violating the 2009 law on consumer protection.
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