Alleged “spirits mafia” boss offered large bribe, say police

A man suspected of being the head of a so-called “spirits mafia” trading in illegal booze offered a police officer a CZK 10 million bribe, police said on Friday. They accused Radek Březina of making the offer during questioning last year and said he had also attempted to bribe witnesses with tens of millions of crowns. The police made the statements during a news conference in the Moravian city of Olomouc presenting information on an operation this week in which 15 people were charged with illegal trading in spirits. The gang cost the state at least CZK 3 billion in lost tax revenues, police said.