The discovery of home-brewed alcohol in the 'dry' Queensland community of Aurukun has prompted local authorities to restrict sales of sugar at the township's supermarket.
Mayor Keri Tamwoy said the situation came to the attention of police when they came across a man "staggering around intoxicated".
"When they interviewed this individual, he's told the police it's home-brew — he had drunk some home-brew," she said.
"In one of our local disaster management group meetings it was raised that people were still buying pallets of sugar, so we had to ask the store manager to limit the sale of sugar."
Police searched a Muttich Street address last month and charged a 37-year-old man with possessing liquor in a restricted area.
He is due to face the Aurukun Magistrates Court in July.
Aurukun Shire Council has also asked Facebook to remove a video apparently posted by a resident demonstrating how to make home brew.
It has asked police and the Department of Housing to investigate.
Alcohol has been banned from Aurukun, on Cape York Peninsula, since 2009. Anyone caught possessing, bringing in or selling alcohol faces fines or jail. Those found with equipment to brew alcohol could be fined more than $25,000.
Alcohol posing threat from outside and within community
Aurukun and other Cape York communities have been subjected to strict movement restrictions for more than a month, to protect vulnerable residents from COVID-19.
Sly grogging has been an ongoing problem in the region and was identified as a potential avenue for the virus to get into communities.
It has prompted Chief Police Superintendent Brian Huxley to issue a plea to would-be smugglers.
"It's got to stop. They've got to be taking responsibility because the impact is going to be on their own people," he said.
"We just simply cannot allow this virus to get into some of our communities."
Acting Police Inspector Duane Amos said the while the number of vehicle checkpoints increasing across the region may have reduced sly grogging, it's turned some to home-brewed alternatives.
"There is that restricted movement," he said.
"There's also smaller supermarkets and general stores, and if there's a shift towards the purchase of products, some of those things can become very obvious to a lot of the agencies in those areas."
Mayor does not want 'witch-hunt'
Aurukun is still in the process of repairing and rebuilding homes, which were fire-damaged during an outbreak of violence in January that stemmed from a fatal stabbing.
There was a mass exodus of residents and while 74 people made it back home, just before COVID-19 restrictions took effect, it's estimated more than 200 people are yet to return.
Acting Inspector Amos said bringing alcohol issues under control was key to keeping the community safe.
"It's very obvious they contributed to some of the dysfunction as well as the domestic violence, civil unrest, children not sleeping at night," he said.
"Once we're able to control the source of those issues, things start to settle."
Mayor Tamwoy said she did not want a "witch-hunt" against those who would make or consume home-brew, but wanted people to understand the negative health effects.
"We have had a number of people who've passed away who would have lived for a good old age if it were not for alcohol abuse - that's the sad truth here in Aurukun," she said.
"I seriously don't want to see any of my people dying prematurely because of this home-brew."
