Police on track of methanol poisoning case

Prague, Sept 23 (CTK) - The Czech police has reached the top of the pyramid of producers of alcohol laced with methanol, police president Martin Cervicek told Czech Television (CT) Sunday.

Cervicek said the detectives had uncovered the case and were not dealing with other versions of the investigation.

So far, they have brought charges against 41 persons, 17 of whom were taken into custody.

Cervicek said the police were yet taking further steps, but he would announce basic results on Monday.

"When speaking about the methanol case, that which is connected with the general known information on the number of hospitalised and dead persons, from the viewpoint of the direction, version and supposed outcome, the situation is clear for us," Cervicek said.

The police have not finished the work and would continue with the case of illegally produced alcohol, he added.

Cervicek said a breakthrough in the investigation had been caused by the Thursday raid of the police in Zlin, south Moravia, in which 6,000 litres of liquid, most probably of methanol, had been seized.

However, the police still did not have tracked down the source of the poisonous alcohol and all products originating from it, Cervicek said.

Cervicek dismissed the notion that the police had failed and had not resolved the cases of bootleg alcohol.

The criticism was also dismissed by general director of the Customs Authority Pavel Novotny.

Novotny said the customs authority was cooperating with alcohol producers and checked the market in order to uncover illegal production.

Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek spoke on behalf of the customs authority, too.

"I have to absolutely reject the idea that a tax administrator is responsible for a rascal pouring poison in alcohol," Kalousek said.

Novotny said he agreed with this. "I clearly refuse it that the customs authority made any major mistake," Novotny said, adding that illegal market in alcohol made up some 10, maximally 15 percent of the total, which was comparable with other countries.

Kalousek said customs officials were increasing the number of checks at the alcohol market. In 2011, there were over 10,000 of them and they confiscated more than 1,500 hectolitres of illegally produced alcohol.

They conducted 8,000 checks and seized 1,300 hectolitres of alcohol by this September.

Besides, the customs authority passed to the police hundreds of proposals to start criminal investigation.

So far, 24 people have died from poisonous alcohol and the cases of poisoning have occurred in nine regions of the Czech Republic. Tens of persons have been hospitalised.

Due to the occurrence of poisonous alcohol, prohibition on hard liquor was imposed on September 14.