The São Paulo Civil Police carried out an operation this Monday (5) in a wine cellar in Cidade Tiradentes, in the east zone of the capital of São Paulo, after the death of a 15-year-old teenager who had allegedly ingested an alcoholic drink purchased on site and suspected of having been adulterated with methanol. 
However, the owner of the cellar ended up being arrested for “clandestine electricity connection and irregular storage of fireworks”, according to the Civil Police. The police are investigating whether the drinks he sold there were adulterated and could have caused the teenager’s death.
Distilled drinks and 17 boxes containing fireworks were seized at the scene.
The teenager died this weekend, after consuming alcoholic beverages on New Year’s Eve. The cause of death is still under investigation at the Legal Medical Institute (IML).
In addition to this teenager’s death, four other deaths are being investigated across the state of São Paulo on suspicion of methanol poisoning, the Health Department reported.
One of the cases is a 39-year-old man from the city of Guariba. The death of a 31-year-old person, from the city of São José dos Campos, and two others who lived in Cajamar are also being investigated.
To date, 51 cases of methanol ingestion have been confirmed in the state of São Paulo, with 11 deaths. Four of these deaths occurred in the capital of São Paulo. Two deaths were also recorded in São Bernardo do Campo, three in Osasco, one in Jundiaí and another in Sorocaba.
