More than 400 litres of vodka seized as illegal distillery raided

No arrests have yet been made following the discovery in Greenock, Inverclyde, on Tuesday.

Bottles of suspected counterfeit vodka have been seized in Greenock (HMRC/PA)

Authorities have seized more than 400 litres of suspected counterfeit vodka in a raid on an illegal alcohol distillery.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) also discovered multiple pallets of empty 70cl bottles and two stills – equipment used in the distillation process – when they searched a unit on an industrial estate in Greenock Inverclyde

The operation, helped by Police Scotland also uncovered several plastic intermediate bulk containers containing around 12,000 litres of suspected industrial spirit.

In total, 425 litres of suspected counterfeit vodka was seized in the raid on Tuesday.

One of the two stills that was seized by authorities (HMRC/PA)

No-one has been arrested and investigations are continuing.

Joe Hendry, assistant director of the fraud investigation service at HMRC, said: “HMRC and our partners will not tolerate the sale of illegal alcohol. Drinking counterfeit alcohol can be a huge risk to health and even cause death.

“Disrupting criminal trade is at the heart of our strategy to clamp down on the illicit alcohol market which costs the UK around £1 billion per year.

“This is theft from the taxpayer and undermines legitimate traders.”