Melbourne’s Moonshiners Busy

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31385, 2 June 1967, Page 9

Melbourne’s Moonshiners Busy

(N.ZP.A.-Reuter— Copyright) SYDNEY, June 1. Melbourne’s amateur moonshiners are still at it, in spite of a massive blitz by customs officers’. In a series of raids on homes in Melbourne and sui> rounding country areas in the last month, customs men

have seized 62 illicit stills, but they know the moonshiners are still churning out hundreds, of gallons of “liquid dynamite.” The customs’ drive has forced the black market price for backyard “grappa” to 17s 6d a bottle, compared with last year’s price of 13s 6d, but it is still freely available. The offenders are mainly immigrants from Southern Europe, who are continuing

their homeland custom of “making your own grog.” I Possession of a still can bring a fine of £4OO, or jail on a second conviction, and 490 moonshiners have been convicted in Victorian courts since 1960. “There is no sign of a let-up in this practice,” said Mr G. Collins, the customs officer in charge of the campaign, in Melbourne this week.

I The Customs Department has extended its battle against the moonshiners by offering rewards for information leading to the conviction of persons using the stills. “We are interested primarily in protecting the nation's revenue," Mr Collins said. “But we are not, of course, overlooking the dangers these liquors constitute to people's health."