By Jeffrey Damicog A female trader has been arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Manila for selling adulterated alcohol. NBI officer-in-charge Eric Distor on Thursday, May 14, identified the arrested trader as Cherrygil Del Rosario Arriola. With the arrest, Distor urged “the public to exercise caution and care and purchase only FDA (Food and Drug Administration)-approved and verified disinfectant products.” Distor said Arriola was arrested by agents of the NBI’s Special Action Unit (NBI-SAU) during an entrapment operation on Monday, May 11, at her shop at the CreativeLab Cosmetic Products located in Sampaloc, Manila. “Also, subject failed to show any authority to sell the said products or to present chemical analysis of the claimed 99.9 percent ethyl alcohol that she sells to the public,” the NBI said in a statement. Following her arrest, Arriola was presented for inquest before the Manila Prosecutors Office for violating Republic Act 11469, the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act; RA 7394, the Consumer Act of the Philippines; and RA 9711, Food and Drug Administration Act of 2009. Distor said the NBI acted on information that Arriola was engaged in the alleged large-scale sale of adulterated alcohol. “According to the report, subject Arriola personally mixes ethyl alcohol and methanol to increase its volume,” the NBI said in a statement. “Methanol, by its nature, is highly corrosive and a toxic substance not suitable for human consumption,” it warned. Prior the entrapment operation, NBI-SAU agents bought three gallons of disinfectant at P330 per gallon from the shop on April 27. The disinfectants were branded as “Bacfree Disinfectant” with “Ethyl Alcohol 99.9%.” The product was submitted for testing to the FDA, which found that it “contains 96.1 percent methanol and 4.9 percent ethanol, a solution that is toxic and harmful to humans.”