Greek bars collect unfinished drinks, sell back to tourists, officials warn

Several bars in a popular Greek party town were shut down for collecting unfinished drinks and selling them back to other tourists, according to local reports.

Bars in Kavos on the island of Corfu, Greece were recently raided by the Independent Public Revenue Authority AADE whose agents suspected the establishments of tax evasion and selling alcohol that had been smuggled or tampered with.

The operation was carried out by AADE tax and customs auditors and local police officers from Wednesday, Aug. 30 through Friday, Sept. 1.

The authorities visited the popular party area to check if the establishments had formally issued and registered all their transitions and if the alcohol was served clean and legally.

They found that 26 catering businesses did not issue at least 40,578 receipts valuing $286,782.

But more worrisome to tourists, the agents discovered seven catering establishments served drinks that did not have lot number markings, likely meaning that the drinks were smuggled/illegal and possibly adulterated.

Eight samples from these bars were taken and sent to the country’s State General Chemistry to be tested.

The local outlets explained that it is typical of these bars to have bartenders collect unfinished drinks in canisters and save them in barrels to be served again to other customers as shots.

These businesses were closed for 48 hours and were fined.

Kavos is a popular party destination for tourists and is informally considered a “no-go zone” — meaning that no checks of any kind have been carried out for many years, the state-run news agency claimed.

This comes as the local authorities have opened an investigation into the death of a young tourist who died after possibly being served tainted alcohol in the area.

Hannah Byrne, a 22-year-old British police officer, was found dead on the streets in Kavos early Friday morning.

Authorities believe that she died after falling and suffering a head injury, but Corfu’s chief medical officer Yannis Aivatidis told The Sun that he smelt alcohol on her breath and questioned how she died “just a few hours” after arriving in the area.

“The answer lies in the toxicology tests that will be carried out,” he said.