The suspects in police custody
The Police At Kpeshie Division have apprehended four persons including a 16 year old boy for allegedly producing several quantities of fake alcoholic beverages with the labels of Gihoc distilleries Ghana limited.
Three of the suspects have been identified as Armah Mensah, 53, Alabi Borteye 47 and Isaac Laryea 20 years.
They were arrested at a house located at Teshie Okpoi Gonno by a team of personnel upon a tip off. At the time of the arrest, some of them were producing the beverages while others were embossing them with fake Ghana Revenue Authority tax stamps
About One hundred and twenty cartons of the fake drinks embossed with the label of Castle Bridge and 90 cartons of another drink embossed with the label of Herb Afric and Madingo as well as two barrels of a liquid substance suspected to be ethanol were seized from the house where the drinks were being produced for commercial purposes.
Information gathered again indicated that at the time of the arrest, the suspects had allegedly used some reddish substance suspected to be crayon in a liquid form and were mixing them with the drink in an unhygienic manner.
The four were immediately whisked to the police station for questioning.
Briefing the DAILY GUIDE, the Kpeshie Divisional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Francis Tsidi said the police gathered intelligence that some persons were producing fake alcoholic beverages in commercial quantity into the market.
Plain cloth personnel, he noted, were dispatched to the location where the four persons were grabbed.
The divisional commander revealed that officials of Gihoc distilleries who produce Castle Bridge and Herb Afric were invited and had been assisting them in their investigations.
“Officials of the Ghana Revenue Authority, (GRA) were also invited where they confirmed that some of the tax stamps were fake, while others belonged to another accredited beverage company.
The four have since been remanded into police custody by the La Magistrate Court to reappear on November 15, 2019.
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey
(lindatenyah@gmail.com)
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