Police accuse liquor producer's executive

Zlin, South Moravia, Oct 18 (CTK) - Czech police have accused Pavel Caniga, executive of the Likerka Drak liquor producer, in connection with the uncovering of spirits containing poisonous methanol in the storage of the firm's distributor, local state attorney Roman Kafka told CTK yesterday.

He also proposed that Caniga be remanded in custody.

Caniga was accused of endangering public health by defective food. If found guilty, he faces up to eight years in prison.

Caniga, 42, was detained after bottles containing liquor with 50 percent of methanol were found in the storage facility of the Verdana company, which is an exclusive distributor of Likerka Drak from Chvalcov, south Moravia, for the Czech Republic.

The police launched a nationwide search for Verdana's executive Robert Sedlarik.

Moreover, the Czech Agricultural and Food Inspection Authority (SZPI) yesterday banned the sale of Tuzemak (Czech rum) liquor made by Likerka Drak, since the poisonous content of methyl alcohol was detected in it.

A total of 7600 bottles of the suspicious liquor were found in the Verdana storage in Zlin in late September.

SZPI spokesman Pavel Kopriva said the amount could kill thousands of people. The producers had the bottles prepared for dispatching to retailers.

Caniga said he was surprised by the results of the liquor analysis on Tuesday, and he called it absolute nonsense.

A laboratory analysis of the samples proved 536,000 mg ofmethanol in one litre of pure alcohol, which means about a half of the bottle's content.

The SZPI passed the case on to the police and the Customs Authority. The police are investigating where the methanol in the Likerka Drak came from.

The affair of methanol poisonings from bootleg alcohol erupted in early September. Since then methanol in bootleg liquor has claimed 28 lives in the Czech Republic. Tens of people have been hospitalised with methanol poisoning symptoms.

Several tens of people have been prosecuted over the methanol scandal. Two alleged producers of the tainted alcohol and it distributor were accused of endangering the safety of the public for which they face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty or possibly even a longer sentence.

Likerka Drak appeared in the affair in early September. Police revealed the company's labels on alcohol plastic barrels in the shop where one of the poisoned victims allegedly bought spirits. However, Caniga said these labels were forged.