Online Reporter
Police in Bulawayo have arrested a couple that has been brewing counterfeit alcohol brands in the city’s Central
Business District and confiscated the equipment that was being used to produce the products.
Following a raid at a flat in the city, police recovered large quantities of ethanol, bottles of illicit alcohol ready for distribution, counterfeit labels of well-known beer brands, equipment used to produce the beers and a bottle sealing machine.
According to police, the scale of the operations suggests that the couple was producing for a very big market.
Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Nomalanga Msebele said police were alerted of the illegal activities by members of the public.
She said following the raid, police recovered four drums of ethanol, an assortment of counterfeit beers known as “njengu” and equipment used to produce the beers.
Inspector Msebele warned property owners where such illegal activities are being conducted that they risk being arrested and prosecuted.
She said it was the responsibility of the property owners to ensure such illegal activities are not conducted at their premises by reporting any suspicious activities to the police.
Insp Msebele said members of the public should also report any suspicious activities to the police.
She said the production of illicit drinks posed a serious health risk to consumers, especially the youths.
The discovery of the illegal “brewery” is coming at a time when police in Bulawayo are grappling with increasing cases of drugs and substance abuse especially among the youths.
In their bid to fight the scourge, police have identified several suburbs that are illicit drugs hotspots and have for some time now been monitoring activities of drug cartels, hence the increased arrests.
Police have said there is an urgent need to rid the suburbs of drug barons and cartels that are supplying the drugs, mostly to the youths.
The identified drugs hotspots suburbs are Hillside, Famona, Bradfield, Nkulumane, Thorngrove, Pumula South, Makokoba and also Hope Fountain on the outskirts of the city.
The drugs are in most cases smuggled into the country and distributed to agents in the different suburbs.
Government, concerned about the increasing cases of drug and substance abuse, has not only mobilised resources to fight the scourge but has set up an inter-ministerial taskforce to co-ordinate activities to fight the menace.
We have said before that the fight against drug and substance abuse cannot be won by the police alone hence the need for all citizens to be involved.
Criminals are smuggling drugs into the country and distributing them in our communities.
The onus is therefore on every citizen to assist police to smoke out these drug peddlers who should not be allowed a free rein in our cities and towns.
We want, at this juncture, to implore members of the public to join hands with the police in fighting drug and substance abuse.
Let us make our communities no-go areas for drug barons or cartels.
It is a fact that a nation of drug addicts is doomed and we should not allow this to happen to us as a nation.
