Confiscated alcohol products in Aweil Northern Bahr el Ghazal State.

The Mayor of Aweil in Northern Bahr el Ghazal has ordered the state police to retrieve the liquor seized in 2022 and return it to the rightful owners.

In September 2022, Aweil police confiscated about 6,000 cartons of Star Gin hard drinks and other alcoholic products.

This step was an implementation of the Mayor’s order reportedly intended to reduce crimes in the town.

This comes after the police recorded increasing crimes linked to consumption of the affordable small-bottled alcohol.

But on Thursday, Aweil Mayor Zechariah Dut Mou issued an order to the police to return the wine products to owners if they will transport the unwanted goods out of the city.

“Since we seized these wines, we have asked the traders who own the alcoholic to return them from where they came, because it’s not welcomed here,” he told Eye Radio.

Mayor Dut said he issued the order to help traders recover their money by returning the product to the factories.

Dut argues that he decided to return the alcohol after the trader wrote to his office requesting the release of their product.

“After some of the traders wrote to my office a request to deport and remove these products from the city, we took the necessary procedures and released it to be deported to Wau town.”

“Because they said they have paid a lot of money for this product, so I am helping them to get their money back. and for the type of alcohol that is not band prohibited we allow them to sell it.”

On his part, Police Spokesperson Captain Guot Guot Akol said they were implementing a written order, authorizing them to give back the product to the owners on condition that they take it out of the state territory.

“It’s true that we handed over an alcoholic substance called star Gin as per directive from the Mayor,” Akol said.

“To recall that last year in September, we received an order to crack down on the all type -star Gin alcohol it has over 11 type star Gin Disco Gin, London Gin, zapper Gin.”

“We recorder several crimes  and increment of crimes rate due of consumption of this deadly alcohol as rape, killing, suicide and accident.”

It is not clear where the alcohol drinks were manufactured from.