A spurious liquor racket in the heart of Margao is more than just an embarrassment. That it was functioning quite smoothly and had evaded detection does not speak highly of the state excise department or the police. The racket was exposed by the Maharashtra Excise, which conducted a raid under the nose of the State excise department, which remained in the dark and out of reach to the media. The tip off came after two persons who were arrested in Thana, Mumbai spilled the beans. This resulted in the raid and the
arrest of three persons in Margao. A deeper probe is underway to ascertain how the accused got access to cartons and bottle caps. The effort to search and find spurious liquor manufacturers
is a continuous process. It was supposedly made easy
when 22 states made it mandatory for legitimate manufacturers
to use QR codes and holograms on bottles as a mark of authenticity.
Sadly, Goa remains behind the rest of the country
in implementing this directive as a result of which illegal units
proliferate. The raid is an eye opener for the State government
and the excise department which has to pull up its socks. The
source of packaging material used by the Margao unit needs to
be traced and illegal units ferreted out and shut down before
an untoward incident occurs.
