On 10, 11 and 14 November 2015, three people: two women aged 20 and 30 and a man aged 22 died in hospitals in the town of Cheboksary and Cheboksary District of acute poisoning with methyl alcohol. The Chuvash investigating bodies of the Russia’s Investigative Committee have opened a criminal investigation in a crime under part 3 of article 238 of the RF Penal Code (storage and selling of unsafe goods and products by an organized group and entailing death of two or more people).
Four suspects have been held in a short time by joint efforts of investigators of Leninsky district investigations office in the town of Cheboksary and officers of Economic Safety and Anti-Corruption Department of the Cheboksary Office of the Russian ministry of the Interior. Among the suspects is 32-year-old resident of Cheboksary Dmitry Mitrokhin, the CEO of a cargo transportation company, who earlier in 2015 was prosecuted for using force against a police officer and in 2012 for reckless homicide of a 17-year-old girl. According to investigators, he is the organizer of the crime. In addition, his accomplices are his 31-year-old girlfriend Marina Akimova, 50-year-old mother Tatyana Mitrokhina and 33-year-old friend Aleksey Orlov, who had their roles in the criminal group. Restraint is expected soon.
The criminal files say that on 7 November 2015, the 22-year-old man and his 20-year-old girlfriend drank some alcohol from a bottle labeled Bacardi Black. The next day they felt unwell and were taken to hospital, but despite all the efforts of doctors, they died of severe methyl alcohol poisoning in the evening of 10 and 11 November 2015 respectively. On 7 November 2015, in the village of Ishlei, Cheboksary District, the 30-year-old woman went to a birthday party with her husband and drank the same kind of alcohol, which her husband had brought in. The next day she felt unwell and on 9 November 2015 she was taken to hospital, but died on 14 November 2015 of severe methyl alcohol poisoning. During the probe, the investigators found out that the 22-year-old man and 20-year-old woman had bought the said alcohol from the 33-year-old husband of the 30-year-old woman, who is also a suspect of the said crime. Besides, the man’s 36-year-old friend also had bought a similar bottle of alcohol and was hospitalized. At present he is at hospital. The investigators believe that a 1-liter bottle of adulterated alcohol cost 200 rubles.
According to investigators, the suspects without a license for selling alcohol sold alcohol-containing products disguised as elite alcohol in the towns of Cheboksary and Alatyr. They bought the products outside the Chuvash Republic without due registration. According to preliminary information, in all abovementioned cases the adulterated alcohol contained methanol.
At present, necessary investigative operations are underway to find out all the details of the crime. 10 searches have been carried out and over 900 boxes with adulterated alcohol have been confiscated. A number of forensic inquiries have been assigned, including medical and chemical ones. The investigative Committee is going to locate all outlets of adulterated alcohol, the place where it came from, and identify all persons involved in the crime, and give legal assessment to actions of officials whose duty it was to control circulation and quality of alcohol.
We have to admit that the cases of adulterated alcohol poisoning have become more frequent recently and this criminal business keeps up growing. Several people have died recently in Moscow Region and now three young and healthy people died in Chuvashia of the hands of dishonest businessmen. I stress once more that it is a serious problem, considering the amount of adulterated alcohol, it is not a potential but a real threat to thousands, if not more, human lives. I am warning people against buying alcohol drinks, including strong ones, in dubious places and from under the counter, because a deathly fake can be hiding under an expensive label.
Head of Media Relations V.I. Markin
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