A stock of illegal liquor with excise security stickers seized

Law enforcement agencies are in a state of severe turmoil following the discovery yesterday of a large stock of illegal liquor bearing security stickers issued by the Excise Department in the Eastern Province. With this incident, the controversial issue of these security sticker stocks falling into the hands of traffickers has once again come to the forefront.

This raid was carried out based on information received during a joint operation conducted by officers of the Sri Lanka Naval Ship Gotabhaya, belonging to the Eastern Naval Command, and the Mullaitivu Police Special Task Force.

There, 5,575 bottles of fake liquor hidden in a house were found, bearing security stickers issued by the Excise Department, which regulates the liquor industry. These suspicious bottles were seized from the possession of a 43-year-old individual.

Investigations into the stickers on the seized liquor bottles revealed that they were genuine stickers printed and issued by Madras Security Printers (MSP), a company licensed to print security stickers.

This is the third such raid carried out within a three-week period. Previously, on June 28, the Western Province North Crimes Division seized a stock of illegal liquor with security stickers in the Malabe area.

In that incident, seven suspects, including an army major, were arrested, and during those investigations, another stock of fake liquor with security stickers was found in the Batticaloa area. Investigations revealed that the suspect in the Batticaloa incident had obtained these stickers through a sub-agent reportedly connected to India's MSP institution.

Considering the serious nature of these two incidents, these investigations were handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department two weeks ago, and a new investigation is currently underway.