Brief: Potentially lethal fake vodka seized in Germany

More than a thousand bottles of vodka with 400 times the legal limit of toxic methanol have been intercepted by authorities in Germany.

The unregistered bottles – branded as "Diamond Vodka – where found by the North Rhine-Westphalia Department of Consumer Protection to have 15g of methanol per litre, a level that could be fatal and cause serious symptoms such as blindness.

"Whether a person is simply drunk or has methanol poisoning can only bet determined by a doctor can determine," said the agency in a press release. "Those suspected of being affected should immediately be taken to a hospital."

Searches at an address last month resulted in the seizure of 1,028 bottles and the arrest of two people from Duisberg – aged 48 and 60 years - on suspicion of tax evasion related to the trade of illicit alcohol.