TX-TABC Arrests Fugitive on Interpol ‘Red Notice’ List

A man long sought by Mexican federal police for human trafficking charges is now behind bars after he was arrested Friday morning by agents from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

Hugo Texis is currently in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility following his arrest by members of TABC’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU). SIU agents identified Texis as the subject of an active Interpol “Red Notice” issued by the Mexican federal police. He was located as part of a long-term ongoing investigation by SIU agents in the Houston area.

Interpol Red Notices are issued for fugitives wanted either for prosecution or to serve a sentence. They are used to alert police in all member countries about internationally wanted fugitives. Red Notices help bring fugitives to justice, sometimes many years after the original crime was committed. When a person is sought for prosecution, they have not been convicted and should be considered innocent until proven guilty.

TABC investigators collaborated with agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Department of State as well as Interpol and the Mexican federal police to make the arrest. Local and federal law enforcement agencies also participated in the arrest. Texis was safely placed under arrest and is currently being processed in DHS-ICE facilities. 

CT-Five Stratford businesses cited in liquor compliance checks

Five local establishments were found to be in violation of liquor laws by a Connecticut Liquor Control compliance inspection on April 28, according to a release from the Stratford Police Department and the CLC.

Four of the businesses were cited in violation of the law prohibiting sale of alcohol to someone under 21 years old. The other violation was for sale of alcohol without a permit.

FL-Undercover operation nabs four clerks for selling alcohol, tobacco, vaping products to minors

Employees from four convenience stores were arrested last week during an undercover operation conducted by the Crestview Police Department.

On April 29, police conducted a city-wide operation after receiving complaints of local businesses selling alcohol, tobacco and vaping products to persons under 21 years old.

During the operation, the department's Criminal Investigations Division used underage participants in the controlled purchase of the age-restricted products and visited 27 businesses for the attempted purchases. That included six liquor stores, 14 convenience stores and seven vape/tobacco stores.

MI-State seizes 100 gambling devices from Genesee County storefront casino locations

One hundred gambling devices, 62 gift cards of varying denominations, and more than $29,000 in suspected gambling profits have been seized from two alleged Genesee County storefront casinos last week, according to the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB).

The items were seized during raids that took place Wednesday, April 27, at The State Road Spot, 723 S. State Road, in Davison, and The Bristol Spot, 1374 E. Bristol Road in Burton.

Authorities said the raids followed a joint investigation by the Michigan Department of Attorney General and MGCB.

“Illegal gambling machine operations bring unwanted crime to communities across Michigan and deprive school districts of gaming tax revenue from the state to support education,” said Henry Williams, MGCB executive director. “The MGCB works to educate citizens and businesses about illegal gambling and to support state and local officials’ efforts to remove machines used illegally.”

NC-Surf City PD cracking down on crime near beach bars

On weekend nights in Surf City, flocks of late-night partygoers trudge home or back to nearby rentals. In roughly 4 square miles of land, Surf City’s population of approximately 4,000 full-time residents more than doubles during summer peak season.

The vibrant coastal community, bordering Topsail Island, is home to two local bars, which have become iconic to the area: Tortuga’s Nest and Trailer Bar — both located in the 1700 block of North New River Drive. 

The late-night crowds and loud music — often going until 2 a.m. — have been an ongoing strain on the Surf City Police Department. A bulk of its resources are often channeled into the bars’ one-block radius in response to citizen complaints, crime and other calls for service. 

In 2021 alone, SCPD was dispatched 170 times to the area. 

Police chief Phil Vorhees, appointed to the position in January, has been with the department for 15 years.

“There was a time those bars were completely out of control — fights and crazy stuff going on every single night,” he said. 

Over the last five years, he has witnessed three deaths involving intoxicated drivers. One individual drove into the canal and drowned. Another couple was hit by a drunk driver — their car flipped and they burned to death.

“There’s always going to be problems when 400-something people are in an environment consuming alcohol,” Vorhees said. “It’s how we respond to those problems and hold people responsible that alleviates the fear of crime in those areas.”

Coalition urges definition for American single malt

A trade body is calling on the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) to establish a standard for American single malt whiskey.

Trade group the Distilled Spirits Council of the US (Discus) and the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission (ASMWC) have sent a letter to the TTB to urge the government body to set a new standard for American single malts.

The ASMWC is a national association representing nearly 100 producers of American single malt across the States.

The TTB was due to publish a definition for the category in December 2021, the ASMC said in September.

Discus and ASMWC submitted official comments to the TTB in June 2019 in support of setting a standard for US-made single malt whiskey as part of TTB’s 2018 plan to modernise the labelling and advertising regulations for alcohol.

Following the proposal, TTB added a rule-making for American single malts on its semi-annual regulatory agenda in 2021 but it has yet to issue the notice of the proposed rule, Discus said.

The letter, sent on 28 April, said: “The need for the development of a standard for this growing category has reached a critical moment as more distillers than ever are labelling their products with this term while there are no formal TTB requirements for the American single malt whiskey category.”

San Francisco Liquor Store Employees Busted For Buying Stolen Nordstrom Merchandise

Employees of a San Francisco corner liquor store have been arrested for allegedly buying merchandise stolen from Nordstrom in a crackdown on retail theft in the city.

San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin announced that Allala Mouaizi had been arrested and an arrest warrant issued for Said Mahtout after the illegal fencing operation was uncovered in cooperation with California Alcohol Beverage Control agents and Nordstrom security officers.

The Metaverse: Alcohol Beverage Industry’s Next Marketing Frontier?

The metaverse is widely regarded as the next frontier in digital commerce, with businesses across industries spending millions of dollars buying digital real estate and investing in platforms to be market leaders. Alcohol beverage brands are also leading the charge, with companies like Jose Cuervo and Heineken announcing forays into the metaverse. But what opportunities does the metaverse hold for the alcohol beverage industry, which ultimately relies on “real world” product sales? And what legal challenges do alcohol beverage companies face in the metaverse in light of the regulatory scrutiny they face in the physical world?

AL-Alcohol delivery service looks to expand services to Montgomery

It’s said out of tragedy we sometimes find our life’s purpose. That may be the case for two Alabama brothers who launched a new business motivated by a crash involving their younger brother.

Rashad and Ameer Grimes’ younger brother will never be the same after being hit by a drunk driver in 2008.

“To this day, our mother still has to care for him on a daily basis. So every time we visit around our mother’s home, we basically have to look directly in the face of the negative effects of drunk driving,” said Rashad Grimes, CEO of Dippi Delivery.

Now they are working to make sure no other family experiences their heartbreak. They started Dippi Delivery, an alcohol delivery company they hope will save lives.

Alcohol Watchdog Pushes Back on Merkley’s Booze-by-Mail Plan

The proposal is a top priority for the American Postal Workers Union.

Dr. Reginald Richardson, executive director of the Oregon Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission, fired off a letter last week urging U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) to drop his sponsorship of legislation that would allow the U.S. Postal Service to ship alcohol to people’s homes.

Currently, only private shipping companies such as UPS and FedEx are allowed to ship beer, wine and spirits. For Oregon producers and consumers, that means less competition among shippers and less shipping capacity—and for the financially ailing Postal Service, less revenue.

The proposal, which would generate an estimated $180 million a year in revenue, is a top priority for the American Postal Workers Union.

Wisconsin has a problem with alcohol. There are effective steps we can take to reduce excessive drinking.

The data is clear: Wisconsin has the highest rate of excessive alcohol consumption in the nation.

Both in Wisconsin and nationwide, deaths with alcohol as an underlying or contributing cause of disease have increased by more than 25% during the pandemic.

Unfortunately, alcohol use causes death in other ways, such as suicide, violence, motor vehicle crashes and falls (especially among the elderly). The number of Wisconsinites who died from alcohol-related falls more than tripled in the last two decades.

Roughly half the deaths due to alcohol are not disease related, yet all alcohol-related deaths are preventable.

And disturbingly, the data show that Black Wisconsinites have higher alcohol-related deaths than the average among Black people nationally. The oversaturation of alcohol outlets, especially in Black neighborhoods, is striking. The data show that there is a direct relationship between alcohol availability and alcohol-related problems such as violence.