Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Adulterated liquor kills at least 34 during Mother’s Day festivities

Thirty-four people died after drinking tainted alcohol in Puebla and Morelos on Mother’s Day, local authorities report.

In Chiconcuautla, Puebla, the mayor’s office declared a health emergency and the National Guard was deployed to help identify others who may be showing symptoms of poisoning. 

The 20 who have died thus far in the community drank refino, an agave distillate similar to mescal which costs 15 pesos a liter or 5 pesos a glass and may have been tainted with excessive levels of methanol. 

Typically used in solvents and antifreeze, methanol can metabolize to formaldehyde and formic acid in the liver and become toxic within a few hours of being ingested.

Symptoms included dizziness, blurred vision or blindness, difficulty breathing, seizures and severe abdominal pain.

The mayor’s office appealed to the public to avoid consuming alcohol, asked those experiencing poisoning symptoms to seek immediate medical attention and announced that a full investigation would be conducted.

Meanwhile, 14 people died in the municipalities of Axochiapan and Jonacatepec, Morelos, after drinking tainted bootleg alcohol, reported Pedro Enrique Clement Gallardo of the state’s Civil Protection agency. 

In Telixtac, a small, indigenous community in Axochiapan, authorities closed stores illegally selling the alcohol, despite coronavirus dry laws, and seized 86 liters of what is known locally as cachorro, amargo or damiana after nine people died. Five others died in Jonacatepec where the sale of alcohol was also prohibited due to the pandemic.

Civil Protection warned that the number of poisonings and dead could increase as the investigation continues. 

In Jalisco at least 28 people have died since April 26 from drinking El Chorrito, cane alcohol tainted with methanol, and seven have died in Yucatán after drinking bootleg liquor.

Source: Infobae (sp), El Universal (sp), La Jornada (sp)

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
Carlos Olson San Vicente,

Chihuahua is first Mexican state to ban inclusive language in schools

1
The motives of the reform's author are both linguistic (eliminating "foreign formations") and political ("no more ideologized language or woke confusions”).
Justice statue

I used to practice ‘amparo’ law. Here’s why the proposed reform is worrying

0
In Mexican law, an amparo trial defends citizens who have had their rights infringed upon by the government. President Sheinbaum recently introduced a reform that would greatly reduce its scope.
forensic van parked outside a homicide

Does your town make the list of Mexico’s most violent municipalities?

3
According to homicide data for the 12 months between September 2024 and August 2025, five popular tourism destinations are among Mexico's 50 most violent municipalities.
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity