Overview
- A community tip to the City’s emergency call center led Metro Police NSOs to a Durbanville home on 5 January, where five suspects were arrested at the scene.
- Officers found 11 drums of homemade gin and distillation equipment, plus empty bottles from two popular gin brands indicating suspected repackaging.
- Police later arrested the homeowner, a Chinese national, bringing the total to six ahead of a Bellville Magistrate’s Court appearance on Wednesday.
- Charges include illegal manufacture of alcohol, contraventions of the Counterfeit Goods Act, and possession of suspected stolen property.
- The case is now with Durbanville SAPS, and seized samples are undergoing forensic testing to establish composition and potential health risks.