Latvian police said this week that they discovered a kilometer-long plastic pipe running from Russia to Latvia that was funneling illegally brewed spirits

Latvian police said this week that they discovered a kilometer-long plastic pipe running from Russia to Latvia that was funneling illegally brewed spirits. Such moonshine, which is commonly purchased in the countryside across the Baltic states, is much less expensive than anything sold in stores. It is also far cheaper to make in Russia then in Latvia, so the black-marketeers involved stood to make a hefty profit, according to police. The meticulously laid tubing was first spotted by Russian soldiers, who then tippled off their counterparts across the border; the Latvians then traced the makeshift pipeline to a faucet behind a cottage woodpile near Vilaka, in the northwest corner of Latvia. One Latvian resident was arrested Sunday, though it wasn't clear if Russian officials also detained and charged anyone. Other spirit-carrying pipes have been found around the Baltics in the past, but never one so long. European Union officials fear that similar kinds of smuggling from Russia could increase after the Baltics, as expected, join the EU next year. Illegally distilled liquor is seen as a major health hazard in the region. Not only is the purely distilled substance extremely potent in its own right, but producers sometimes mix potentially lethal methanol into the brew either by mistake or to give the alcohol more kick. In 2001, 68 people died in a matter of a few weeks in Estonia after drinking black-market alcohol that was heavily laden with methanol.