In Yekaterinburg, two men were detained, suspected of making and selling surrogate alcohol. This was reported on October 16 by the press service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the Sverdlovsk Region.
“In the course of the ongoing operational activities, officers of the Directorate of Economic Biology and Corruption of the regional police headquarters and operatives of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in Yekaterinburg identified and detained two suspects in the manufacture and sale of an alcoholic surrogate. These are local residents born in 1978 and 1967, ”reports the Ministry of Internal Affairs Media.
At the moment, employees are checking places where they could make surrogate alcohol, and then sell it. In addition, the exact number of victims is being established and the circle of suspects is being clarified.
Earlier on Saturday, it became known that in Yekaterinburg, 18 people died from methyl alcohol poisoning. The Investigative Committee (IC) of the Russian Federation opened a criminal case under Part 3 of Art. 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Sale of goods and products that do not meet the requirements of the safety of life or health of consumers, resulting in the death of two or more persons by negligence.”
Due to the incident, inspections will be carried out in the markets of Yekaterinburg. The regional prosecutor’s office has already sent a request to the police to check market complexes for the sale of counterfeit alcoholic products, adds Gazeta.ru.
On October 7, it became known of fatal alcohol poisoning in the Orenburg region. Fatalities have been reported in four municipalities. Pure methanol was found in the biological fluids of the victims and the dead, in some cases its concentration exceeded the lethal dose by 3–5 times. As of October 13, the death toll due to poisoning was 35 people.