As Ajijic mourns the sudden death of seven inhabitants since last weekend, Jalisco authorities have launched an investigation into multiple cases of intoxication by presumed consumption of tainted alcohol.
Alcohol de caña, a crude type of rum derived from sugar cane, is a popular, low-cost booze widely consumed to spike pajaretes made with raw cow’s milk, cola or other beverages and to produce artisanal cordials. With prices driven up by increased demand during the Covid-19 pandemics, bootleggers have apparently been distributing a toxic substitute, sold in bulk or individual containers bearing falsified labels of the real thing.
Details of the investigation were revealed Wednesday night during an online press conference presided by Jalisco Attorney General Gerardo Octavio Solís Gómez, Denis Santiago Hernández, director of the state’s Commission for Protection against Sanitary Risks (Coprisjal), and Ana Gabriela Mena Rodríguez, head of the Department of Health Promotion and Prevention.
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