Riga police: adults caught helping minors buy alcohol during test purchases

As the new school year begins, Riga municipal police have stepped up efforts to check whether minors can obtain alcohol. The department carried out 50 test purchases in stores to assess how often retailers break the rules by selling alcohol to underage customers.

Andrejs Aronovs, deputy head of the Riga municipal police, discussed the results of the checks on TV24's program "Uz līnijas." According to him, the most concerning finding was not related to store employees, but to the behavior of ordinary adults encountered on the street.

Adults willing to help

During the checks, it emerged that some adults approached by minors on the street and asked to buy alcohol on their behalf agreed to do so. Aronovs said that in five cases, adults took money from a minor without objection and went to purchase the drink themselves.

He stressed that such behavior by adults creates a serious problem, since adults are the ones who should bear responsibility for preventing alcohol from reaching minors. In his view, children and teenagers are not yet mature enough to fully grasp the consequences of their actions, making the role of surrounding adults crucial.

Public awareness work needed

The police representative noted that test purchases and inspections of retailers address only part of the problem. More effort is needed to explain to the public, including adults, how their everyday actions can indirectly make alcohol more accessible to children.

Aronovs reminded that children's wellbeing largely depends on the level of responsibility shown by adults around them, referencing the idea that raising children well starts with working on oneself.