Authorities Find Distilling Equipment and Illegal Booze During Raid on Police Officer’s Home

Authorities raided the home of a police officer and discovered what appeared to be an illegal booze operation. (Photo: Armin Weigel/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

On Monday, The Daily Mirror reported that Sri Lankan authorities found 14 liters of illegal booze and distilling equipment in the home of a 59-year-old Police Sub Inspector. Law enforcement made the move after they received a tip from an unnamed member of the public.

During the raid, authorities uncovered copper pipes that were affixed with rubber belts, a gas cooker, a gas cylinder and barrels that appeared to be used for storage purposes.

The officer suspected of illegal distilling will appear in court at a later date, and law enforcement is conducting further investigations according to the outlet.

In April, one of the biggest bootlegging operations was uncovered after an extensive 2-year police sting operation took place in Australia. Law enforcement discovered a one billion dollar operation that involved a minimum of 80 licensed shops and 2.4 million bottles of illegal booze hitting the shelves that year.

The operation apparently blended industrial alcohol into other spirits, which is a highly dangerous practice that can have fatal repercussions. The alleged culprits were described as a “potential mafia” of biker gangs who participated in the scheme.

Sri Lanka’s Polarizing Liquor Laws

Sri Lanka has a liquor law dating back to 1979 that bans women from purchasing alcohol. The law was initially passed to appeal to conservative Buddhists in political power at the time.

The Guardian reported in 2018 the law was overturned very briefly, but Sri Lanka’s president, Maithripala Sirisena, re-imposed the controversial ban shortly after. Though the country’s finance minister, Mangala Samaraweera, intended to rescind the ban to restore “gender neutrality,” the president forced him to bring the ban back. The outlet reported that the government’s decision to relax the ban on women purchasing led to pushback from the public, particularly from conservatives.

According to The Guardian, liquor shops were additionally banned from selling alcohol to law enforcement officers or members of the army. The law appears to be inconsistently enforced according to travel forums and message boards. Trip Advisor reported that the ban was considered “a bogus law.”

An individual interested in visiting the country posted on Reddit about the law, and those living in the area shared their thoughts:

“It’s technically a law but very rarely enforced (almost always in rural areas),” a Redditor commented. “The previous government repealed it, and then annulled the repeal after outrage from religious conservative snowflakes. In practice you could probably go out and buy some right now in most urban areas.”

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