During vote season in Delhi, beer smuggling reaches a new peak, with twice the amount of bottles recovered

This year’s increase in beer smuggling could have been brought on by the election season.

Beer bottle recovery more than quadrupled in the first quarter of this year compared to the same time last year, according to Delhi Police statistics on excise act seizures.

According to the statistics, 2,117 bottles were recovered by March of last year, compared to 5,965 this year.

Additionally, compared to the previous year, the statistics indicated a rise in the seizure of alcohol produced domestically. This year, 1,23,479 bottles were recovered, compared to 1,17,998 bottles the previous year.

According to police, the city’s safety and security procedures have been tightened in anticipation of the Sabha elections. This entails stepping up patrols and conducting sporadic picket inspections to guarantee a safe atmosphere.
“Several teams have been created to combat organized crime, which includes the illicit booze trade. They are in charge of obtaining information and capturing offenders engaged in these kinds of operations. An officer said, “To combat illegal alcohol sales, law enforcement has been stepped up.”

According to the statistics, 1,382 cases under the Excise Act were filed this year; 1,363 of these cases were resolved by the police, and almost 1,400 liquor traffickers were taken into custody. This year, 3,669 bottles of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) were discovered by the police.

For well-known bootleggers in the area, law enforcement has started the externship process. “Not only are we sending decoy customers to hot spots to check activities, but if we have found any suspicious activity, then immediately raids have been conducted,” a police official said.

The police noted that the supply of illegal alcohol was driven by easy money. “We have increased our teams and patrols, which has resulted in recoveries.” The majority of the alcohol came from neighboring states, which traffickers attempted to resell in Delhi for hefty profits, according to the officer.
An additional officer said that a campaign has been initiated against interstate illegal liquor providers who carry booze from Haryana to Delhi, in light of the elections and as part of continuous measures to prevent the trading and transportation of illicit liquor over the border.

An officer described the systematic operation of a booze smuggling ring as the modus operandi of traffickers. One gang gets booze from another state and brings the bottles to their Delhi-based associates. The following distribution and sale of the illegal alcohol inside the city is then managed by these collaborators.