An illegal alcohol factory capable of producing up to 150 bottles of fake vodka every hour has been dismantled by HM Revenue and Customs.
The HMRC raid, carried out at a commercial premises near Lichfield in Staffordshire on February 1, discovered production machinery capable of counterfeiting enough vodka to evade £2.5million of excise duty every year.
Officers recovered hundreds of bottles of suspected counterfeit ‘Krackoff’ vodka, along with tanks that could hold 7000 litres of liquid, and several bulk containers of ethanol.
Assistant director of HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, Judith Rockett, 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 £1 billion per year.
“This is theft from the taxpayer. This crime hurts legitimate businesses and the people that buy the often-dangerous products. Anyone with information about any type of tax fraud can contact HMRC online.”
Investigations into the illegal factory are continuing and no arrests have been made at this stage.
Victoria Wilson, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Trading Standards at Staffordshire County Council added: “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.”
