The Delta State Police Command has uncovered an illegal factory where fake wine is being produced and arrested the owner, one Kenneth Ajie, at Ovwia in the Udu Local Government Area of the state.
The acting Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Bright Edafe, stated this on Thursday in Asaba.
He said, “The Commander of the Delta State Police Command Anti-Cult Unit, after due intelligence gathering, mobilised operatives on a sting operation with the Civilian Anti-Cult Volunteer Corps and arrested one Kenneth Ajie of Amadaga village and uncovered an illegal factory, where fake alcoholic drinks are being produced.
“The suspect, who produces the fake wines in his house, operates without any licence.
“He sells the wine for the sum of N300 per bottle and N3,600 per carton; he confessed that he bottles the wine himself by using bottles that have already been used and disposed.
“He buys these bottles at the rate of N10 each, and also buys the cork from the open market. He claims that he washes the bottles himself, corks the wines himself and sells to members of the public; he works alone and produces between one and three cartons per day.”
Items recovered from the suspect, according to Edafe, include bottles of drinks suspected to be fake wine.
In another development, the police spokesman said members of the Iyara Vigilante Group and residents of the Iyara community have been put on red alert to be on the lookout for four armed robbers, who escaped with bullet wounds.
According to him, on Wednesday around 12am, men of the ‘A’ Division, Warri, received a distress call from one of the police constabularies attached to the ‘B’ Division, Warri, that four suspected armed robbers in a Toyota Camry car were operating in the Ubor area of the city.
Edafe stated that the Divisional Police Officer led the anti-crime patrol team in search of the hoodlums and engaged them in a hot chase to Iyara, where they eventually abandoned the car with number plate TE 845 AAA, which was stolen on Ekuremu Street, Warri, on April 22, 2021, and belonging to a renowned journalist, Felix Ekwu.
He said efforts were ongoing to arrest the fleeing robbers and urged the residents of the area to be on red alert for people with bullet injuries.
According to Edafe, a locally-made single-barrelled gun loaded with one live cartridge, the Toyota Camry car and other items were recovered from the scene.
