A police raid of a private home in the Westfjörds uncovered some 60 litres of home-made spirits, with equipment to make even more.
Police raided the home on Wednesday, Morgunblaðið reports, after suspecting that someone in the area was in charge of large-scale brewing of Icelandic moonshine, also known as landi. Police uncovered 60 litres of the substance, as well as machinery for processing more moonshine. Drug paraphernalia was also found on the scene, although no drugs were found in the house.
Two young men were arrested and questioned, and both have confessed to producing the moonshine. They were released on their own recognisance.
It is difficult to conceal the production of moonshine in a residential area, as the brewing process itself will emit strong odours, which will usually tip off those nearby that brewing is in progress. Yet even when operations are moved to industrial areas, as was the case last September when 800 litres of pre-batch for moonshine were found, one police officer simply following a scent can shut down an entire operation.
The trafficking and sale of moonshine in Iceland is nonetheless a tradition of sorts, as Stephanie Orford’s article on the subject reports.
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