AFP: Iranian police have raided an illegal distillery masquerading as a “religious venue”, seizing more than 30,000 liters of homemade liquor, the student news agency ISNA reported Sunday.
TEHRAN, Dec 4 (AFP) – Iranian police have raided an illegal distillery masquerading as a “religious venue”, seizing more than 30,000 liters of homemade liquor, the student news agency ISNA reported Sunday.
The 40-year-old owner of the still in Karaj, west of Tehran, and four other men were arrested in the raid, which followed complaints from neighbors.
ISNA said the still owner rented the house because it resembled a place of worship, without specifying whether it looked like a mosque or church.
Drinking alcohol is strictly forbidden by Iran’s Islamic laws and those who are caught are usually whipped and fined.
Frequent seizures of illegal alcohol are reported in Iranian media, with those running the stills facing jail sentences.
Prohibition and raids, however, have failed to stop people drinking homebrewed booze or bootlegged foreign brands which pour into the country from its western borders with Iraq, Turkey and the former Soviet union.
