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Why Counterfeit Booze Might Be Killing People in the Dominican Republic [tr]
Vice ^ | July 1, 2019 | Trone Dowd

Posted on 07/02/2019 11:39:45 AM PDT by C19fan

Of the 10 Americans who have mysteriously died during their trips to the Dominican Republic in the last year, nine showed symptoms commonly associated with methanol poisoning.

Now, both Dominican authorities and the FBI are looking into a counterfeit alcohol as the possible culprit, officials confirmed to VICE News.

The nine victims died from either pulmonary edema, the medical term for fluid in the lungs, or of a heart attack. At least four of them had drunk an alcoholic beverage at resorts in Punta Cana, Santo Domingo and La Romana shortly before their deaths, according to loved ones.

(Excerpt) Read more at vice.com ...


TOPICS: Travel
KEYWORDS: dr
Since I am a teatotler, I can enjoy half off trips to the DR.
1 posted on 07/02/2019 11:39:45 AM PDT by C19fan
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To: C19fan

Hey Jose, that new stuff packs a punch.


2 posted on 07/02/2019 11:42:56 AM PDT by Bullish (My tagline ran off with another man.)
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To: C19fan

Baloney

A lot more people would be dropping dead from counterfeit liquor like the guy who drank right after them out of the same bottle


3 posted on 07/02/2019 11:43:56 AM PDT by Vendome (I've Gotta Be Me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB0ndRzaz2o)
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To: C19fan

This is distilling 101 - when you start distilling you want to throw away the first part of your batch as methanol. There is a formula to tell you how much, but it can be deadly if you don’t do it.

https://www.quora.com/How-can-I-avoid-methanol-in-my-alcohol-destillation


4 posted on 07/02/2019 11:47:18 AM PDT by cuban leaf
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To: C19fan

:: Why Counterfeit Booze Might Be Killing People in the Dominican Republic ::

And, What is David Ortiz’ Relationship With the Supplier?


5 posted on 07/02/2019 11:49:34 AM PDT by Cletus.D.Yokel (Did you know that the C_A is the largest venture capital source in the world?)
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To: Vendome

I ain’t buying it either.


6 posted on 07/02/2019 11:49:59 AM PDT by SpaceBar
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To: cuban leaf

Holding at 153-155F is crucial, it drives the methanol out. Throw this condensation out like the poison it is. This can be 15% 0f the total alcohol, once that stops boiling increase the temp to 171-175F and you get the ethanol. If you don’t do that first step at 155F and monitor it closely you’re playing a risky game and making hangover hell in a bottle if not worse. Fruit based mash’s can have even higher methanol content, and many of these mash’s are tropical third world countries making their own backyard hootch, which is primarily fruit, not grain.


7 posted on 07/02/2019 11:58:05 AM PDT by BBQToadRibs
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To: C19fan

This was one of the unintended consequences of Prohibition. Bathtub gin and other moonshine type products killed many people who did not stop drinking when legitimate enterprises where shut down.

Third world economies do this sort of thing routinely. We just haven’t been paying attention.


8 posted on 07/02/2019 11:58:36 AM PDT by centurion316
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To: SpaceBar

It’s pesticide use in either the room or on the plants outside.
I’m betting the cheap condo owners hire cheap workers and tell them to get rid of the bugs!


9 posted on 07/02/2019 12:02:05 PM PDT by 9422WMR
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To: Vendome

I thought they were drinking those mini bar tiny bottles.


10 posted on 07/02/2019 12:03:38 PM PDT by Yaelle
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To: BBQToadRibs

That stuff must have some worthwhile uses around the house.


11 posted on 07/02/2019 12:12:26 PM PDT by cuban leaf
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To: 9422WMR

That is what I have been reading too. The pulmonary edema is caused by poisoning most likely from insecticide. The exact same thing happened a couple years back in St Thomas. However, because that is a US territory, the US Feds came in and autopsied the bodies right away.

The fact is it may be both. Some of these hotels have big bottles, not little nip bottles like we see in the US hotels. These are all inclusive resorts. So, you can drink as much cheap booze as you want. It is NOT top shelf alcohol. Think of the bottom shelf at the liquor store and then go one below that.


12 posted on 07/02/2019 12:24:35 PM PDT by woodbutcher1963
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To: 9422WMR

Sorry, I meant big bottles in the room. .75 liter bottles. They have one rum, one vodka, one gin and one tequila.


13 posted on 07/02/2019 12:29:51 PM PDT by woodbutcher1963
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To: C19fan

Stick to beer.


14 posted on 07/02/2019 12:30:43 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: dfwgator
Stick to beer.

Canned Beer in this case.

15 posted on 07/02/2019 12:32:15 PM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: woodbutcher1963

“Sorry, I meant big bottles in the room. .75 liter bottles. They have one rum, one vodka, one gin and one tequila.”
Wow! Just like in the old Hollywood movies where you grab a bottle and drink your fill. Nothing good could ever come of that, and with poisoned liquor? That could be a part of it.
Still think pesticide use is what’s killing many. That stuff can be so damn toxic.


16 posted on 07/02/2019 1:54:07 PM PDT by 9422WMR
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To: cuban leaf

If you have a ‘57 fuelie gasser in your garage, fill-up the tank and go like hell.


17 posted on 07/02/2019 2:07:13 PM PDT by Carriage Hill (A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit.)
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To: cuban leaf

“This is distilling 101 - when you start distilling you want to throw away the first part of your batch as methanol.”

From my NC bootlegging relatives or years gone by I learned that the first part is called the “heads”, and distills at a lower temperature. It is discarded. The middle part is what you want, ethanol, and distills at a relatively middle temperature. The last part of the run distills at a higher temperature and is called the “tails”, and is also composed of dangerous chemicals and is discarded. To be safe, distilling temperatures must be carefully controlled by someone who knows that they’re doing. Some amateur who tries to distill spirits without controlling temperatures produces bad booze, usually the first and last parts of the run. So, the #1 rule followed by NC moonshine aficionados is: KNOW THY BOOTLEGGER.


18 posted on 07/02/2019 5:03:22 PM PDT by myerson
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To: carriage_hill

HAHAHA! I was in a band that was doing some fifties rock. We almost called ourselves The Gassers. Problem is, most people would probably think it had more to do with farting than those cars. :)


19 posted on 07/03/2019 6:11:36 AM PDT by cuban leaf
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To: 9422WMR

There was a forensic pathologist on Fox News last week that gave insecticide poisoning as the likely cause of these deaths. This was his opinion based on the pulmonary edema.
He was the person that gave the evidence of a similar in the USVI St Thomas case.

It is not like the EPA has any say in what chemicals they can use in foreign countries. They very well could be using some chemicals that are illegal in the US because of their toxicity to humans. It is like the fact that the US made Diazinon crystals illegal in the US in the 1990’s. It was buy far the best insecticide on the market, especially for killing carpenter ants. It was found to cause cancer in humans. I am sure it can still be bought in other countries.

As far as liquor in the Caribbean goes. I had a BVI bartender teach me a Caribbean economics lesson 22 years ago. I commented that I appreciated him making my rum and coke cocktail so strong, but maybe to add a little more coke to mine so I could have more than one.
He held up a 1.75 liter bottle of Cruzan rum made right on St Thomas and stated it cost $6. He then held up a six pack of coke cans and stated they cost $8. Rum is cheaper than coke.


20 posted on 07/03/2019 6:28:09 AM PDT by woodbutcher1963
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