Two arrested over alcohol poisoning case

Published on 25/09/2012 00:00

Czech police have arrested two men suspected of distributing bootleg alcohol containing methanol that has killed 25 people this month and put dozens more in hospital.

The government last week extended a ban on the sale of spirits in bars and shops to include stopping all liquor exports, hitting drinks firms’ sales and reputations in its EU markets.

“We know the source and how it got onto the Czech market,” police President Martin Cervicek said yesterday.

He said up to 15,000 litres of poisonous alcohol could still be on the market.

The two suspects face jail terms of 12 to 20 years for endangering the public.

Police last week found thousands of litres of suspect liquid in a warehouse in the north-east of the country, where the first cases of poisoning appeared.

Those arrested worked for a company that used methanol, or methyl alcohol, in the production of windscreen washer fluid.