The Police in the Ashanti Region have arrested a 48-year-old man who has been producing and selling fake popular local and international alcoholic beverage brands to the public for the past 10 years.
Yaw Nambu Dosu operating under the business name Nambu Distilleries, claimed he and one other person who is at large, have been producing alcoholic brands such as Black and Red Labels, Bacardi, Lion Aromatic Schnapps, Smirnoff, Lord Jack, Sir Edwards, Bony Black and Lord Kingsley among others.
Police retrieved from his premises at Ejisu, 48 boxes of the said alcoholic beverages, which are suspected to be highly harmful.
Dosu told investigators he has been producing the brands using ethanol, water and colour.
He sells his counterfeit products to Accra, Kumasi and their environs
“The content of the harmful alcoholic beverage will be sent for forensic analysis,” Police in the Ashanti Region has said
Investigations have revealed Dosu, who is popularly referred to as Joe, was on July 30, 2007 denied licence by the Food and Drugs Authority to produce Lion Bitters, following which resolved to produce counterfeit of the popular alcoholic beverages without authorization.
A tip off by the International Federal of Spirit Producers on March 11 led to the arrest of Dosu Monday, March 12.
He mentioned one Mr. Kwofie based in Nungua in Accra as his accomplice. The Police is currently hunting for Kwofie suspected to be in Nungua or Aflao to assist in the investigations into the case.
Dosu has told investigators he has using re-suing empty bottles of these brands of drinks for his counterfeit beverages. The bottles, he said, were procured from the people who go round to collect such empty bottles, popularly known as Kollibar.
Meanwhile the Police has advised the public to be circumspect when buying some of these foreign alcoholic brands, and also report any suspicious activities of unlicenced distilleries to the Police.