Moonshine plants busted in Govt sanctuary

Rasika Somarathna

Excise sleuths busted five large scale moonshine producing plants, cleverly hidden in a few islands in the Madampa river, declared by the Government as a sanctuary due to its unique bio-diversity features.

The Madampa river joins the ocean near Ambalangoda, and the wetland which surrounds the area, has the reputation of being the breeding ground for many endangered species of plants and animals.

According to sources, the sanctuary houses mangroves and birds unique to Sri Lanka. The activities by these illegal brewers using wood fire and harmful chemicals in the production process, has threatened the existence of endangered species of plants and animals, sources said.

During raids in the islands identified as Panaduwa, Delduwa and Lenaduwa, officers took into custody five people along with a haul of moonshine, illegal spirits and other accessories valued at over Rs. one million. This includes 20,500 ml of moonshine, 850,000 ml of goda, 35 barrels, five copper coils along with a large quantity of Ammonia.

According to Excise sources, a lucrative business had been in operation for some time with the produce mainly being distributed in Galle and Ambalangoda areas, where it is said that there is a high demand for the banned substance.

Excise sources said, yesterday that they would file a case against the suspects in the Balapitiya Magistrate's Court pending further penalties after they were released on Rs. 50,000 bail each.

The raid was conducted under the instructions of Commissioner General of Excise Wasantha Hapuarachchi by Assistant Commissioner (South) B.A. Dayarathna, Superintendent H.W. Kulatunge, OIC Dheera Gunasekera, OIC U. Jayasinghe and officers, Jayantha de Silva, T. Mendis, R. Fernando, M. Ratnasiri, S. Nuwan, A. Kalyanapriya, Amal, M. Silva, V. Hemapala, K. Jayakody, S. Kumara, Chandana and D. Niroshana.