Over 100 people have died this month in Indonesia after drinking toxic liquor, local police said on Wednesday. West Java and Jakarta have reported a dramatic spate of people dying and being taken to hospital since last week, prompting police to call it a “crazy phenomenon” that needs a “scorched earth” campaign to curb the menace, AP reported.
Dozens of people have complained of nausea, blurry vision and loss of consciousness after drinking toxic liquor. As many as 82 of the deaths took place in West Java and Jakarta, while the other cases were in South Kalimantan and other regions, Deputy National Police Chief Muhammad Syafruddin said.
“This is a crazy phenomenon,” he said. “We must trace it to the roots, who the masterminds are and the distributors. If we let it continue, it will harm the nation,” he added.
Syafruddin said he had ordered all regional police chiefs to “make these cases stop” and to trace “producers, distributors, sellers, to those who have the idea of mixing alcohol with fatal chemicals”.
Police have detained at least a dozen men on suspicion of making and distributing the drink, Reuters reported. They have confiscated huge quantities of alcohol.
Laboratory tests of black-market alcohol showed it contained methanol, police said. They had also earlier said it could be mixed with insect repellents.
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