The increasing manufacture, distribution, and sale of fake alcohol poses a grave danger. The greedy dealers are daily exposing unsuspecting consumers to severe health risks. Festive season crackdowns last December uncovered some crooked distributors.
Operations led by the Anti-Counterfeit Authority (ACA), the National Authority for Campaign Against Drug Abuse (Nacada), and security agencies uncovered how underground distributors often exploit high demand. Dealers scale up production to flood bars, retail shops, and entertainment joints when consumer spending is at its peak.
Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives have just arrested a man in Eldoret, who is suspected of being behind one of the syndicates. The 30 cartons of suspected counterfeit drinks that have been seized with the labels of well-known alcoholic drinks could have fetched Sh7.6 million in the open market.
The ACA data shows that 19 per cent of the alcohol sold in the country is counterfeit. The agency has been investigating 124 cases in the past three years. Some 63 cases are from Kiambu, Kirinyaga, Nyandarua, Murang’a and Nyeri counties.
Nairobi has 29 cases and Eldoret 11. Ordinary rental houses, some in upmarket areas, have been turned into illicit production hubs. Crackdowns have revealed how the distributors are turning ordinary homes into secret storage and distribution centres. They supply the drinks that take the lives of some consumers. Nacada has also warned that the expanding criminal network is causing acute poisoning that results in organ failure. Criminals acquire empty bottles of popular brands and refill them with cheap, unregulated industrial ethanol and water, with artificial flavourings.
Because the fake drinks bypass stringent laboratory and manufacturing standards, they often contain deadly chemical substitutes. Industrial methanol is commonly used because it is cheap. But even small amounts can cause death, permanent blindness, or organ failure. The public must remain vigilant and only buy alcoholic beverages from reputable supermarkets, verified distributors, or fully licensed establishments.
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