Bootleg Alcohol May Be Linked To 3 MD Deaths At Dominican Resorts

MARYLAND — The collapse and death of nine American tourists at Dominican Republic resorts in the past year, including three Maryland residents who died under similar circumstances, could be linked to illegally made bootleg liquor, say two experts. The Marylanders died at two resorts in the region, and family members say all three were fine initially, but collapsed and died within hours, in some cases after drinking from their hotel minibars.

The FBI launched an investigation last week into whether American deaths were from drinking tainted or bootleg liquor, reported the New York Post.

"When you have nine people who died, two of whom are a couple, and they are all otherwise healthy, you've got to believe this is some kind of toxin exposure," Dr. Reynold Panettieri, a pulmonary critical care physician and toxicologist at Rutgers, told a New Jersey Patch editor. "Now whether it's an inhaled toxin, or transmitted topically through the skin or ingested such as in a drink — we just don't know enough yet."

The FBI has taken drink samples from the Dominican hotels to its labs in Quantico, Virginia, but they have not made the results public yet.

The investigation began after three Americans died at a Bahia Principe resort within days in May.
Miranda Schaup-Werner, 41, of Allentown, Pennsylvania died May 25, just hours after arriving at the Grand Bahia Príncipe Hotel. She was found unresponsive in her hotel room and died before making it to the hospital, the hotel said in a statement. She collapsed suddenly after having a drink and was later pronounced dead, CBS News reported.

Five days later, an engaged Maryland couple was found deceased in their hotel room at the same resort. The couple was identified as Edward Nathaniel Holmes, 63, and Cynthia Ann Day, 49, of Prince George's County, Maryland.

All three died of respiratory failure and pulmonary edema, the Dominican Republic National Police told ABC News.

The hotel would not comment on the cause of death of Day and Holmes pending toxicology results.

Many of the American tourists died of respiratory failure and pulmonary edema, according to autopsies done by the Dominican government. Methanol poisoning kills by attacking the heart and the lungs, and causes pulmonary edema, said Kemal. Other toxins kill that way, too, said the Rutgers professor.

"Nine people all dying within six months and all dying without having a previous illness makes me concerned we're missing something and putting more people at risk," said Dr. Panettieri.

Adulterated, bootleg or watered-down drinks in developing countries is nothing new. In April, the U.S. State Department warned spring breakers visiting Cancun to watch out for unregulated alcohol. And an organization called SafeProof said it has received complaints about counterfeit booze, specifically in the Dominican Republic and Mexico, for more than a year.

SafeProof, based in Jersey City, New Jersey, aims to track and identify bootleg liquor worldwide. The company's founder said they usually receive about 2-3 complaints a week for the last year, but anonymous tips to their website started pouring in as news of the Dominican deaths spread in the media.

"Any time there's an all-inclusive resort the risk for adulterated alcohol increases," company founder Kemal said. (He declined to give his last name because he said he often does undercover investigations into bars serving counterfeit alcohol). "The rates they charge tourists are so reasonable, and yet the cost of importing alcohol is so expensive, so the temptation for these resorts is very high."

What typically happens is one of four things, he said: "First, they simply just water down the alcohol. That's very common. The second is they will refill premium brand bottles with cheaper brands, many of which are made correctly, but are just not premium."

The third option is the most worrisome: Resorts will use liquor that has been distilled locally, often made in backyard distilleries that quietly operate without the government's knowledge.
"There's a reason why in the U.S. you can make your own beer but it's illegal to distill your own liquor. That's because the home distillation process can create methanol, which is poisonous," he said.

"That's the first part of it," he continued. "The second part of this, which is very likely, is that these illicit producers are using industrial-strength ethanol alcohol. You can buy a 55-gallon drum of this for only a few hundred dollars. It's the stuff made for cleaning products or rubbing alcohol; it's 200 proof. They mix it with water or another recipe, but if it's not done correctly, it can be lethal."

As news of the deaths made headlines, family members of people who died suddenly while vacationing on the island came forward seeking answers.

David Harrison of Charles County, Maryland, died last year at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino resort. Dominican authorities also ruled his death was due to pulmonary edema and a heart attack, which his wife questions since he had recently had a complete physical.

Dawn McCoy told WUSA that since reports of similar deaths among American tourists at resorts in the Punta Cana region she regrets not having a second autopsy performed on her husband once his remains were returned to Maryland. Harrison's body was cremated, so there is no way to determine his cause of death.

She has since asked the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic if toxicology tests were performed on her husband, but has yet to receive a reply.

"I accepted it," McCoy told The Washington Post. "Then, when all these people started passing, I stopped and thought to myself, 'How can all these people have the same cause of death as David? What is missing? What am I missing here?' ... I am a fighter and I accepted his death for what they said it was. Now, I'm sorry that I accepted it."

Holmes and Day became sick the night before, complaining of diarrhea, vomiting and sweating, Steven Bullock, the families' attorney, told The Post. Investigators found blood pressure medication and several prescription pill bottles, including one that contained the painkiller oxycodone, Galanpertin and Loxofen. A medical examiner in La Romana said some of the prescription pills came from a local pharmacy.

Additionally, at least three people who visited the Grand Bahia Principe resort and became ill have gone public with their stories.

Here's a look at some of the reports, which continue to come in:

• The family of Glenside resident Yvette Monique Sport said she died in 2018 at a Bahia Principe Resort on the Dominican Republic after having a drink from the minibar. Sport's sister Felecia Nieves, in an interview with FOX29, said they were told Sport died from a heart attack. Her obituary simply states she died suddenly on June 23, 2018 while in the Dominican Republic.
• Robert Bell Wallace, 67, of California, died in April after drinking from the minibar at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino resort in Punta Cana, Fox News reported. A cause of death has not yet been provided to the family, the report said.
• David Harrison, a Charles County, Maryland resident, died last year at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino resort, the New York Post reported. Dominican authorities also ruled his death was due to pulmonary edema and a heart attack, the report said.
• A Denver, Colorado couple said they became "dangerously ill" during their stay at a Bahia Principe resort in the Dominican Republic. They told told ABC it smelled like paint had been spilled all over the room. A doctor who examined them upon their return said they had likely been sickened due to poisoning by pesticides, the report said.
• A New York woman said she was sickened after drinking a bottle of soda from the minibar at the Grand Bahia Principe resort in October 2018. Awilda Montes told the New York Post the soda from the minibar fridge tasted like bleach and made her violently ill.

The hotel, in a statement about the deaths in May, said there is no evidence "of any correlation between these two unfortunate incidents." Bahia Principe staff followed the appropriate medical and security protocols in both cases, the hotel said.

The hotel company alleges misinformation about the incidents has been published by the media.

"Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts has suffered great damage to its image and reputation. Serious insults and threats have been levied on some of our more than 15,000 employees and their families, who are the backbone of our company and before whom we cannot stand idle on the sidelines."

The resort is advertised as a "sweet and cozy" getaway with access to world-class golf courses. In its statement, the resort says it holds "some of the most prestigious certifications in the tourism industry" and accommodates 700,000 guests annually.

Reported by Patch Editor by Carly Baldwin.