Engan liquor smuggler slapped with K2,000 fine

 AN Engan man charged with smuggling alcohol into the province without a liquor trading licence has been slapped with a K2,000 court fine.

When sentencing George Puri, 24, of Wet village on the Kandep-Mendi border, Magistrate Wialu Sakatao the court was prepared to be tough on illegal liquor traders as it was contributing substantially to problems in the community.

He said it was proper for people who wanted to venture into business with trading of liquor to meet the requirements of the law including the selling of the product at proper venues. Sakatao also urged police in the province to work with liquor trading authorities in Western Highlands where the liquor was reportedly being sold to illegal traders to establish the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

Puri, who was trying to transport liquor to Southern Highlands using the Kandep-Mendi route, was stopped by policemen who were on a special operation near Wapenamanda, and had 167 cartons of beer confiscated  from him.

He was then charged with failing to produce a liquor trading licence.

Puri asked for leniency after pleading guilty, saying that he committed the crime because he wanted to make fast money like other people who he claimed were involved in the same business. Another man had been fined K5,000 last month for the same offence.