Black Country shops banned from selling booze after 200 bottles of fake alcohol seized
Two stores have been banned from selling alcohol after almost 200 bottles of counterfeit booze were seized.
The shops, one in Smethwick and another in Hill Top, West Bromwich, were found by trading standards officers to be selling fake and duty free alcohol, along with smuggled cigarettes.
A total of 112 bottles of vodka and whisky, of various brands, were seized from Bargain Express in High Street, Smethwick, along with 41 packets of duty free cigarettes, during two separate raids at the shop.
Meanwhile 37 bottles of vodka and whisky, again of various brands, were seized from Costcutter in Hill Top, West Bromwich.
There, four bottles of vodka were entirely counterfeit and were found to be marginally under strength.
Fake vodka and whisky being sold in the shop was of industrial strength - it contained two-and-a-half times the permitted levels of ethyl acetate, which is used primarily as a solvent, and 60 times the permitted level of acetaldehyde, believed to be the substance which contributes to hangovers.
If drunk, the fake booze could have been a health risk.
Sandwell Council's trading standards officers have since successfully made an application to the local authority's licensing panel for the two stores' licences to be reviewed.
Kamla Devi from Costcutter has now had her licence removed, along with Cristian Bobocoa from Bargain Express.
Businesses across the borough were visited by Sandwell Council's trading standards officers between October and December last year, as part of a crackdown on the sale of illicit alcohol and cigarettes from licensed premises.
Councillor Paul Moore, who is responsible for trading standards at Sandwell Council, said: "We will not tolerate traders selling counterfeit goods in Sandwell and will act on illicit sales.
"In one of these cases not only was the public being sold fake branded goods but there was also a health risk given the alcohol in one instance was of industrial strength."
