Smugglers' vodka pipeline busted wide open

16:30 19 September 2008

A group of suspected smugglers are to go on trail after being caught pumping cut-price vodka into the European Union, through an illegal underwater pipeline.

The accused laid a one-mile-long firewater supply line along the bottom of a reservoir that borders Russia and Estonia

Cheap Russian vodka was then pumped through the pipeline to the Estonian town of Navra. There the liquor was rebottled and resold, avoiding a small fortune in custom's duties.

The smuggling ring was discovered following a four-year probe that police have dubbed the "vodka galore" scam, which climaxed in customs investigators in the Estonian capital Tallinn seizing 1,159 litres of the alcohol.

Mari Luuk, a spokeswoman for Estonian prosecutors, told AFP: "It might sound weird and unbelievable but it's a very real criminal case".

The smugglers face up to five years in prison if convicted.

It is believed that at least another 5,000 litres of vodka was pumped through the pipeline, with an unknown quantity sold across Estonia where the liquor retails for over 30% more than in Russia.

Police have charged 11 suspects over the crime and stated that four ethnic Russians were the ring leaders.

10 top vodka facts

• Rush to Russia Where to go while you are in Moscow.

  Vodka is a typically colourless liquor, usually distilled from fermented grain.
• The prototype of vodka (Aqua-vita) was brought to Russia by Italians in 1429.
• The first Moscow's saloon was opened in the year 1533.
• At the time of Ekaterina II in the year 1775 vodka was considered to be the most elite drink in the world.
• Vodka's brand bottle (the now famous 'Moscow's Special') was patented in the year 1894.
• The more vodka is distilled the more toxic it is.
• 50 g of vodka will improve your thought process briefly, 30 minutes after it is consumed.
• Vodka has a shelf life of 12 months.
• The domain vodka.com is worth more than $3m.
• Vodka doesn't warm you.