Illegal vodka gang jailed

SIX members of a gang that used high-tech equipment to turn out illegal vodka at the rate of 24 bottles a minute were jailed for more than 56 years yesterday.

The gang made more than 1.3 million litres of the vodka in a rat-infested warehouse in Hackney, east London, HM Revenue and Customs said.

In another warehouse in north London, the gang also produced 9.5 tonnes of counterfeit hand rolling tobacco at the rate of 100 pouches per minute.