Potentially deadly methanol and plastic contaminants have been found in illicit bottles of alcohol being sold to unsuspecting customers in regular Australian bottle shops.

Researchers say the findings are especially concerning because the spirits have the outward appearance of a legal product.   

“Ingestion of methanol at sufficient levels can be toxic and lead to symptoms ranging from vomiting and abdominal pain to blindness, coma and death,” warned Michala Kowalski, a postdoctoral research fellow at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC).

The Australian Taxation Office recently estimated the illegal alcohol market to be worth at least $767 million annually ­–­ the equivalent of 14 million standard bottles of vodka or more than 10 per cent of all spirits consumed legally in this country.

Researchers from the NDARC, University of NSW and National Drug Research Institute initially visited four licensed bottle shops in Melbourne for their study, then carried out random audits of more than 200 outlets across NSW, Victoria and Queensland.

They said these audits “confirmed the widespread availability of illicit alcohol”, which was found in 30 per cent of the bottle shops visited.

The methanol and plastic debris were found in two of three suspected illegal bottles of vodka submitted for chemical analysis.

“While the methanol detected was not at the concentration required to cause immediate vision loss or death, it was still in breach of Australian food standards, which raises further questions about the conditions they were produced in,” Kowalski said.

Even lower concentrations of methanol could still cause unexpected side effects, such as headaches, more rapid intoxication or even seizures.

“Ingestion of plasticisers at sufficient levels may also potentially cause negative long-term effects on the liver, kidneys and reproductive system,” Kowalski added.

Two Melbourne teenagers, Holly Morton-Bowles and Bianca Jones died after drinking methanol-laced alcohol while holidaying in Laos in 2024 in a mass poisoning event that also claimed the lives of four other tourists.

The researchers said the illicit bottles of vodka tested during the Australian study all had poor-quality labelling and packaging, while one contained “visible brown flakes”.

They were also the cheapest vodka being sold by the retailers, although Kowalski said price and dodgy labelling wasn’t always a giveaway.

“People have very little to differentiate between cheap and potentially contaminated products when looking between bottles on a store shelf,” she said.

“We have also been told by law enforcement and liquor regulators in several states that these products are increasingly being sold not just in bottle shops but at on-licensed venues like pubs, nightclubs and pubs.”

The National Drug Research Institute says illicit alcohol is mainly spirits, and describes it as “alcohol that is manufactured and/or distributed illegally, and can contain potentially harmful adulterants that are not fit for human consumption”.

It can be sold much cheaper than legal products because it dodges the excise or customs duty that should be paid.

While illicit alcohol produced overseas has previously been seized at Australian borders, some of the products tested in the research were locally manufactured.

Bottle shops across three states stocked suspected illicit alcohol. Photo: AAP

The research comes as Melbourne faces a firestorm of arson attacks on its nightlife precincts, with Victoria Police investigating illicit alcohol as one possible motivation behind the firebombings.

“We’re getting a lot of information from the public, from industry, in relation to some of the complexities of the alcohol industry, in terms of illicit alcohol, homemade alcohol, and the like,” Detective Superintendent Jason Kelly said.

Industry insiders believe the attacks on the city’s nightlife hotspots are linked to underworld figures battling to take control of the growing illegal alcohol trade.

A well-known industry source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Melbourne was at risk of another tobacco war as criminal figures strong-armed hospitality venues into using their illegal products.

“It all relates to stupidly high government excises and taxes on alcohol,” said the source, who asked not to be named out of fear of retribution.

“Now that there is so much money in selling this cheap overseas tax-free alcohol … criminals and bikies have got involved just like they did with white packet cigarettes and vapes when the government over-taxed real cigarettes.”

Kowalski said a whole-of-government response was needed to address the problem, including regulatory changes and enforcement, and tax policy alone would not solve the issue.

“If you continue raising [taxes], that it could cause more growth [of the illicit market], but that the flip side isn’t necessarily true because it’s already so well established,” she said.

Consumers could reduce their risk by sticking to trusted brands and shops, keeping an eye on prices that didn’t make sense, and paying attention to bottle quality, including missing pregnancy warnings or barcodes on labels.

Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny said consideration could be given to increasing the powers of liquor licence inspectors to crack down on the illicit trade.

She said people were distressed by the deaths of Bowles and Jones in Laos and didn’t want to see illicit alcohol anywhere in Australia.

Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson also called for the state Labor government to quickly empower the liquor regulator to test products on shelves.

–with AAP

Free and confidential advice about alcohol and other drugs is available by calling the National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline on 1800 250 015.