Rwanda National Police

Police in Gatsibo District have discovered and dismantled two distilleries in Gihuta Cells of Rugarama Sector that were producing illicit brew.

Two alleged owners of the distilleries were also arrested in two separate operations conducted in the wee morning hours of Wednesday.

One of the suspects; Alexandre Mutabazi was packing the illicit drink called Inkumburwa in Heineken bottles. Police recovered about 1200 packed bottles and 13 packed jerrycans in Mutabazi’s house.

It is said that Mutabazi was using banana juice, sugar and water to make Inkumburwa drink.

Meanwhile, the second suspect identified as Fidele Uzamukunda, 34, was at the time of his arrest found with over 2500 litres of an illicit brew called Soma Usubire, made out of mixed banana juice, sugar, sorghum and water.

It is said that the duo was guising as legally recognized. They are currently detained at Kabarole Police station pending further investigations and processing of their dossiers to prosecution.

Police spokesperson for the Eastern region, Inspector of Police (IP) Jean Bosco Dusabe said that the arrests are in line with the ongoing operations that mainly focuses on fighting trafficking, producing, selling and consumption of narcotic drugs; idlers, who are said to be the majority thieves; and automobiles operating without required traffic-related documents.

“Besides the two drug dealers, we also apprehended nine suspected thieves and impounded eight motorcycles which didn’t have insurance while riders had no driver’s licence,” said IP Dusabe.

According to Phillip Nzayire, the head of quality assurance at Rwanda Standards Board (RSB), such “unpasteurized substances contain physical risks, and micro-biological and chemical hazards as wells as to consumers.”

“Even when they tell you that this is the raw materials they used, you are not very sure until such substances are tested. In some cases, we have actually realized that the raw materials they claim to be using are not real,” said Nzayire.

“You find that the so called banana juice are not well fermented to the required standard; no systems like clean water in place and they also mix other substances like bricks or sugarcane residues with water. These are hazardous substances that pose ill-effects to consumers,” he added.

The law governing narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors in Rwanda, in its Article 24, states that “any drink that exceeds forty five percent of alcohol and any other drink which doesn't have the required quality for consumption shall be considered as narcotic drug.”

“The available control measures, including working with Rwanda National Police and local government, are meant to protect citizens from economic loss that comes through medical expenses that would in some cases lead to subsequent loss of jobs, and ensure quality.”

Nzayire, however, advised all those involved in such “deceptive practices,” to merge and form cooperatives, through which they can attract government support, either financially or expertise, to “ensure quality and give value to products as the overall objective of ‘Made in Rwanda’ campaign.”

Meanwhile, IP Dusabe said: “These are continuous operations to apprehend anyone suspected to be involved in any illegal doings that also destabilize the peace and social wellbeing of the people. The good part is that these operations are backed by the residents themselves, who give us credible information on every development,” he added.