Russian Police Seize 30,000 Bottles of Counterfeit Vodka

Last month the police officials in the city of Chita, capital of the Zabaikalsky Territory, eastern Siberia, discovered a truck carrying 30,000 half-liter bottles of counterfeit vodka, worth approximately USD 90,000 (EUR 74,000).

The bottles, labeled Pchenichnaya, had fake excise labels. Each bottle cost approximately USD 1.5 (EUR 1.2) to make, while the counterfeiters intended to sell it for double that price on the retail market.

The police believe that the truck arrived from Ulan-Ude, the capital of the neighboring Republic of Buryatia, and that the owner of the fake vodka is the same person who was arrested in March this year while trying to bribe the police to release the counterfeit vodka seized in a raid that also happened in Zabaikalsky Territory, eastern Siberia.

Despite Russia’s efforts to combat the problem of fake liquor production, counterfeit alcohol was approximately one third of the market sales in 2011.

In 2011, the Russian police seized a total of 305,000 liters of counterfeit alcohol. Fake alcohol is considered to be the cause of death for 12,000 people last year.

Prepared by: Jelena Jankovic

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Source: Russian International News Agency — RIA Novosti