Hasidic Bootleggers Busted

Montreal police seize 900 liters of illegal booze–including non-kosher wine–from a hasidic synagogue.

Police seize 900 litres of Ontario booze from synagogue
ctvmontreal.ca

Montreal police seized a large quantity of alcohol from an Outremont synagogue on Wednesday.

Officers say they’ve been warning the synagogue for years to stop buying alcohol in bulk from Ontario.

The alcohol, which is much cheaper in Ontario, is served at religious ceremonies.

Police confiscated over 900 litres of alcohol, including Kosher wine.

According to Quebec law, such large amounts must be purchased from the SAQ.

No charges have been laid so far and the synagogue says it will fight the law if any arrests are made.

Here's a translation from the French of Radio Canada's report, which notes non-kosher wine and liqueur was included in the bust:

More than 700 bottles of alcohol were seized by the Police of the City
of Montreal (SPVM) on December 17th in front of a synagogue in the
borough of Outremont.

These wines and spirits, from Ontario, had been imported without the
seal of the Quebec Liquor Authority (SAQ).

The police were aware of such activity since at least 2006. For its
part, the Hasidic Jewish community sees the thing as normal and legal
claiming the alcohol is being used for Jewish religious ceremonies.

However, according to Bernard Lamothe, chief of the division of
organized crime in SPVM, there was non-kosher wine included amongst
the 891 liters of alcohol that were seized.

The SPVM said that even though the Hasidic Jews have been warned on
several previous occasions, they still refuse to buy their alcohol
from the SAQ in compliance with the law.

[Hat Tips: KP (for the stories and the translation), Seymour.]