hard rock hotel casino punta cana deaths

But according to a 2018 IARD report, nearly 29% of total alcohol sales on the island are from illegal alcohol sales, according to a 2018 IARD report though that number encompasses all unregulated alcohol sales and does not refer to counterfeit alcohol sales alone.īill Wyman Remembers His Troubled Pal Brian Jones: ‘He Inadvertently Made the Wrong Decisions, to His Detriment’ In the Dominican Republic specifically, “we’re unaware of regulators monitoring counterfeit alcohol,” Bilello says. While not unheard of, there are relatively few counterfeit alcohol-related deaths in the United States, in large part due to a more rigorously regulated alcohol sales and distribution system than in other countries. Earlier this year, there were at least 150 deaths linked to methyl alcohol poisoning in the state of Assam in India, which officials attributed to the sale of bootleg “country-made liquor” containing methanol. There have been reports of deaths related to toxic bootleg alcohol all over the world, from Iran to Indonesia to Mexico. Where have there been reports of counterfeit alcohol being sold? Sometimes, this can happen after just one drink. “It can cause a variety of symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, blindness, and even death,” he said.

Even small amounts of methanol can be toxic, if not lethal, to humans, says Bilello. The International Alliance for Responsible Drinking (IARD) differentiates counterfeit alcohol from other forms of bootleg alcohol, in that it is defined as a “fraudulent imitations of legitimate branded products.”Ĭounterfeit alcohol can sometimes be made or laced with substances such as embalming fluid, battery acid, or methanol, a synthetic chemical that is used in antifreeze and windshield wiper fluid.

“It is often cheaply produced and always unregulated but can appear to look and smell like alcohol produced by a licensed supplier,” Michael Bilello, the senior vice president of communications and marketing for the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA), tells Rolling Stone. What is counterfeit alcohol, and why is it dangerous?Ĭounterfeit alcohol is essentially bootleg liquor, produced outside the context of regulated alcohol production. But how, exactly, does counterfeit liquor end up in hotels, resorts, or restaurants - and what kinds of chemicals could be linked to such mysterious deaths? Here’s what we know about the counterfeit alcohol theory, and what we don’t.

Hard rock hotel casino punta cana deaths