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Moonshine Seized in S. America After Killing 30

Police seized nearly 50,000 quarts of moonshine Saturday in Nicaragua after a bad mix - included methanol - was blamed for the deaths of at least 30 locals and which sent at least 70 more to hospitals. The sale of moonshine is legal in Nicaragua but police found that at least one batch had been contaminated by methanol. Police spread out into 312 different establishments, some where just empty rooms that sell the raw liquor to people who bring in their own jugs, and collected their stashes.

Police are searching for the moonshiners who mixed, and then sold, the deadly mix. One liter of moonshine can be bought for only one dollar, much cheaper than other local liquors or beer. Reports from the country showed most people admitted to the hospital for drinking the bad batch were poor, and roach-infested hospitals were filled beyond capacity with the ill.

Jose Ernesto Malta, a market laborer told foreign reporters, "This is an attack on the poor. I just hope they do something. Somebody has to pay." In 2000, El Salvador faced a similar outbreak related to bad moonshine, where at least 120 people died. This incident resulted in a 10 day prohibition of moonshine production in the country. It was not clear immediately if Nicaragua would impose a similar ban, focused as the government was on containing the poisoning as much as possible.